His Best Friend
by IKindaDigCrazyGuys
Summary: Randy Orton visits his best friend, Liz, for a few days. After she gets her heart broken, Randy makes her an offer she doesn't refuse. When Randy gets too overprotective, Liz strays and gets into a difficult situation with Wade Barrett. HET OC
1. Missing His Girl

**His Best Friend: Chapter 1- Missing His Girl**

**Summary: Randy Orton visits his best friend, Liz, for a few days. After she gets her heart broken, Randy makes her an offer she doesn't refuse. When Randy gets too overprotective, Liz strays and gets into a difficult situation with Wade Barrett. **

**Disclaimer: Rated M for violence, sex, and language. I only own Liz, Liz's parents (only their names are mentioned),and Tucker (who only appears in the end of chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter 2). **

Randy Orton stood on the plane to retrieve his carry-on from the overhead bin. One of the stewardesses had been watching him during the flight. She loved how tall and tanned he was. She thought the best part was his tattoos; both of his arms were covered in gray and black ink. His dark brown hair was cut really close to his head; his thick facial hair made him look even more brooding. He wore a tight blue t-shirt that complimented his steel blue eyes. His dark jeans were relaxed low on his hips. When he reached up, into the bin, his shirt rose revealing his tight, rippled abs. The flight attendant could barely contain herself. She looked at his left hand to see if he wore a wedding band, but his ring finger was just as naked as she had wished he was at that moment.

She approached him and tried her hand at flirting with him, but he had another girl on his mind; he ignored the flight attendant's advances and sat back down in his seat when the seatbelt sign lit up.

As soon as the plane landed in Jackson, Mississippi, Randy had his cell phone in his hand; he was ready to call up his girl. Randy grabbed his carry-on and stepped off the plane into the airport. When he saw there were enough signal bars, he scrolled his contacts list until he saw the entry, "Lizard". He grinned and tapped the call button. The line didn't ring long until she answered.

"What's up Casanova?" she said into the phone. Randy could tell just by her voice that she was smiling.

"Hey Liz. I just landed. You didn't forget about me did you?" he asked; he pretended to be sad.

"You know what? I knew there was something I was forgetting. Give me an hour and I'll be there," she joked.

Randy laughed. "You're always so mean to me," He joked. "I'm starving! You want to grab some food?"

"I could eat, but there aren't any decent places open at 3am," she said with a condescending tone.

"True," he said quietly.

Liz chuckled. "Where are you now?" she asked.

"Hell. Oops. I meant baggage claim." he said jokingly.

Liz laughed. "Alright. I'm in the main lobby. I can't wait to see you!" she said that last part with squealing excitement.

"Geez. I'd like to be able to ear in the future," Randy said referring to Liz's squealing.

"Whatever, old man," she said before she quickly hung up before Randy could yell at her through the phone for making fun of his age.

Liz stood in the lobby and looked around for Randy. She didn't think he would take so long in baggage claim. Suddenly, she was roughly grabbed by her waist and tickled. She knew immediately it was Randy.

"I am not an old man," he said as Liz laughed. When he thought Liz had had enough punishment, he stopped and put her back on her feet. She quickly turned to face him and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

"I missed you so much," she said into his chest.

Randy smiled and hugged her just as tight. "I missed you, too, Liz," he said before he kissed the top of her head. Her thick, fluffy, brown hair tickled his face. Randy was about to speak again before a vendor approached them.

"Would like to buy a rose for your lady?" the vendor asked.

Randy and Liz laughed. They were used to people assuming they were a couple. This particular girl wasn't Randy's wife; not his girlfriend, either. Elizabeth Michelle Caro was Randy's best friend. There was a thirteen year age difference, but their close friendship would never give it away. It was as if Randy and Liz were siblings.

Liz and Randy's sister Becky grew up together; they even share a birthday. The two girls were inseperable. Liz did not have any siblings so Becky was the sister she didn't have. They did everything together- well, they did all the things Becky's body would allow her to do. When Becky was born, she was diagnosed with a terminal illness that prevented her from living a regular life. She was limited to certain amounts of time outside and she was on so many different medications that made her drowsy so she slept a lot of the time. Even though the doctors estimated that Becky would only live until she was a year old, she died when she and Liz were six years old.

After Becky's tragic death, Randy helped Liz mourn. Liz's parents did what they could, but they couldn't get through to her like Randy could. The six year old wasn't fully capable of understanding of what happened to her best friend but since Randy was 19 at the time, he was able to help her understand what happened to Becky and why it happened. Ever since then, Randy made it his duty to treat Liz as another sister.

A few months after Becky died, Randy was called to his fulfill his dream of being a professional wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment. WWE had a very rigorous work schedule. Randy didn't get to go home for the first year and a half of his career. While he was away, he and Becky still communicated via email; Liz's mom Regina helped her with the emails. Whenever Randy did visit, however, he spent all of his time with Liz.

His return now was for that very reason; he aimed to spend a few days with his best friend before he had to get back on the road with WWE.

When Randy and Liz explained to the vendor that they were just friends, the vendor seemed to be embarrassed. "I'm so sorry. I just thought maybe you two were an item. You look so nice together." she said.

Liz smiled and bought a rose anyway and gave it to Randy. "For you, Casanova." she said with a curtsy. Randy chuckled and took the rose. His smile faded when he got a full view of what Liz was wearing.

"Where are the rest of your fucking clothes, Elizabeth?" he asked like an angry, overprotective brother.

Liz looked herself over and shrugged. "What are you talking about?" she asked with a pout. Her big, hazel eyes were full of confusion. She was wearing a pair of cut off shorts, a deep-V neck tank top, and gladiator sandals. Her long legs seemed to go on forever; her short torso allowed for that illusion. Her bountiful breast peeked just enough over the bra she wore under the tank top.

Randy shook his head and decided it wasn't a big deal since there weren't a lot of people around. "Never mind, let's just go get something to eat." he said. Liz nodded and walked out the door; Randy followed with his suitcase in one hand. It rolled behind him; his carry-on was attacked to the suitcase.

"Which car did you bring?" Randy asked.

Liz smirked. "Your favorite." she said as she tossed him the keys; he caught them. Randy looked at them, saw the design on the key, and grinned.

"You're going to let me drive the Hummer?" he asked. She usually didn't let anyone touch it.

Liz shrugged. "I trust you." she said.

Randy smiled and pressed the remote key to locate the vehicle in the parking lot. The vehicle chirped; Randy and Liz followed the sound. When they approached the Hummer, Randy stared at the machine.

"It's just a car." Liz said.

"Huh?" Randy asked in a daze. Liz snapped her fingers in front of Randy's face to get his attention.

"You're about to jizz in your pants over a car. If that's not something an old man does, I don't know what is." Liz said under her breath. She hoped Randy didn't hear her, but he did. He charged at her, but she ran. He chased her around the car until she opened the passenger door and jumped into the seat. She quickly locked the doors so that Randy couldn't get to her. She grinned as he tried to open the door.

"C'mon, Lizard. Open the door." he said with a sinister smirk.

"Only if you promise not to tickle me, hit me, pinch me, or pull my hair." she said; she knew those were Randy's go-to forms of playful punishment.

Randy sighed and agreed to the stipulations. "Fine. Just unlock the door."

Liz shook her head. "Say that you promise." she said.

"Really? I'm about to die of starvation and you want me to say all of that?" he asked. Liz nodded. Randy groaned. "I promise not to tickle you, hit you, pinch you, or pull your hair." he said as he rolled his eyes.

Liz looked at him with skepticism. "I don't believe you." she said. Just then, the doors all unlocked. Randy smirked and held up the keys in his hand. Liz had forgotten that she had given him the keys. Randy opened the passenger door and lunged at Liz before he tickled her ferociously. She shrieked, kicked, and scratched at Randy to stop. "I'm… sorry… please… stop…" she tried to say through fits of laughter as Randy playfully attacked her.

She clawed at Randy's arms, leaving light scratch marks. One scratch, however, drew blood and forced Randy to retreat. Liz gasped when she saw the blood.

"I'm so sorry, Randy." she said as she covered her mouth.

Randy shrugged. "It's okay. Now, can we please go eat?" he asked annoyed.

Liz chuckled and nodded.

"Finally!" he breathed. Randy closed the passenger door back and put his luggage in the back seat of the vehicle. He then walked over to the driver's side. He got settled in the seat, closed the door, and put on his seat belt. He had to adjust the seat to fit his six foot, four inch frame. Liz was much shorter than him and the seat was adjusted to her height. When he was seated comfortably, he took a deep breath and put the key in the ignition. He was way too excited to start the monster of a vehicle. Liz chuckled as he reveled in the moment. Randy glared at her, forcing her to stop laughing to prevent another attack.

Randy started the Hummer and the motor roared to life; Randy grinned. Liz shook her head. "Pathetic," she mumbled jokingly. Randy smiled, ignored the comment, and drove out of the parking lot.

"Where to?" Randy asked as he drove.

Liz thought for a moment. "There's a diner near my place that's open 24 hours," she suggested; she told him the directions.

Randy nodded. "So how do you like it here?" he asked. This was his first time to visit her since she had made the move to Mississippi.

"I love it. I miss Missouri, but I really like living here." She said. Randy could tell that Liz was a bit sad; he could tell that she missed her parents.

Liz moved to Madison, Mississippi after her parents died in a car accident in Missouri. Her dad, Valentino Caro, was a clothing designer from Italy and her mother, Regina Parkley-Caro, was one of the first African American super models. When Liz was born, she became a stay-at-home mom. Since Liz was their only child, all of their assets went to her. Millions of dollars from her dad's clothing line was immediately transferred to her bank account. Her mom's profits from past shoots were wired to her account as well. Liz was set for life and she decided to move to Madison, Mississippi.

The drive from Jackson to Madison was about 30 minutes; Liz gave Randy directions the entire way since she was familiar with the area. She had lived there for almost six months. Soon enough, Randy pulled into diner's parking lot. There were only 2 cars in the lot, so it wasn't crowded. When Randy parked the car, he and Liz headed inside the diner.

The other patrons were young men and women; they looked to be around Liz's age. Randy and Liz sat at an empty booth and looked over the menu that was already at the table. The waiter came over to take their orders, but he was distracted; he was staring down Liz's tank top while she looked at the menu. She didn't notice the waiter's staring, but Randy did.

"Hey!" Randy said sharply. The waiter jumped and turned his attention to Randy.

"What can I get for you?" the waiter asked.

Randy gave him the most intimidating look he could muster up. The waiter was shaking nervously as he waited for Randy to speak.

"Water. Deluxe omelet. Hash browns. Toast," He said the order very harshly and shoved the menu into the waiter's gut with force. The waiter groaned in pain and doubled over. It caught Liz's attention; she gasped.

"Randy!" she scolded.

"The son of a bitch was staring down your shirt!" he said in defense of his actions.

Liz shook her head. "Are you okay?" she asked the waiter. Without saying a word, he kept eye contact with her and nodded. "I'm so, so sorry." She said sympathetically. He cleared his throat and asked Liz for her order. "I'll have the breakfast sausage and egg wrap with orange juice," she said. The waiter nodded. She gently handed the menu to him and watched him walk away.

When the waiter was out of site, Liz glared at Randy. "Did you really have to punch him in the stomach?" she asked. It was usual for Randy to be overprotective, but he rarely ever physically harmed anyone in Liz's defense.

Randy sighed. "I'm sorry for not letting some sleazy dude gawk at you." he said sarcastically. Liz just shook her head and changed the topic.

"So what's the plan while you're here?" Liz asked.

"Well, there's the house show later tonight, I'm free tomorrow and Sunday, and then I have Raw in Biloxi on Monday." he said as he laid out his schedule.

The waiter returned with the drinks; he tried to star at Liz, but he couldn't resist. Her golden brown skin glistened so beautifully; he full breasts were begging to be stared at. Randy cleared his throat, making the young waiter flinch. "Your food will be out soon, sir." the waiter said to Randy in a shaky voice as he placed the drinks on the table. As the waiter walked away, Randy tripped him by putting his foot in the aisle.

Liz jumped quickly stood up to help the waiter up as soon as he fell. "What the fuck, Randy?!" she yelled.

"Don't tell me you didn't see him almost drooling on you!" he said as he pointed to the waiter as Liz helped him up.

"I'm so sorry about him. Please don't be upset," she begged the waiter. The waiter didn't say anything; he just walked way. Liz huffed and sat back down. "You can't just be rude to the people who handle your food; he might spit in yours!" She said to Randy.

Randy sat quietly and clenched his jaw repeatedly. Liz sighed. She knew Randy meant well, but sometimes he could get out of hand. They sat in silence until Liz saw the waiter returning to the table. "Be nice!" she said to Randy sternly through her teeth.

The waiter silently put the plates of food on the table and walked away. Liz let out a sigh of relief. Randy and Liz ate and made general conversation until both meals were devoured. Randy paid, but he didn't leave a tip. Liz frowned at him until he gave in a left a fairly large tip. He even went to the waiter and apologized. Randy realized that if he didn't, Liz wasn't going to be happy with him and that was something he didn't want. When the waiter accepted the apology—and the tip—he shook Randy's hand. Liz smiled and led Randy out of the restaurant.

As the two walked toward the Hummer, Liz held out her hand. "Keys." She demanded. Randy frowned in confusion. "Give me the keys. You've lost the privilege of driving." She reiterated. Randy pouted and gave Liz the keys. She pressed a button on the remote to unlock the doors.

She was five feet and six inches tall, but she still had to jump in order to get into the vehicle. When she closed the door, Liz readjusted the seat so that she could reach the pedals. She started the car once she and Randy had on their seatbelts. She made herself comfortable by pulling up her right leg and tucking her right foot underneath her left thigh. It was almost like a half Indian-style position.

The drive from the diner to Liz's house was only about 10 minutes; she yawn sleepily as she drove. Randy flipped the radio stations until he found a station he liked. It was classic rock station. He bobbed his head to the music; so did Liz. Thanks to Randy, her taste in music was very broad.

Eventually, Liz pulled up to a closed gate that had an electronic password box. As she inched closer to the box, she let her window down to put in the gate's password. The gate opened slowly and she drove down the long, gravel drive.

Silently, Randy looked at the house as the lights outside illuminated it. It was a fairly large house for a single 20 year old to live in. The house itself sat on a glistening, manmade lake; the water rolled peacefully as they drove. Liz continued around the back of the house and pressed a button in the Hummer that triggered the garage door to open. As the door rose, Randy noticed movement outside the window. He looked harder and recognized what he saw.

"Uh, Liz?" he called quietly.

"Hm?" she responded sleepily.

"There's a deer in your backyard," he said.

Liz wasn't surprised at all. "It's a deer, Randy. It won't hurt you." she said as she yawned. Randy accepted her response partly because he was too tired to question it.

Once the garage door rose fully, Liz drove into it and parked the Hummer in between the older Ford pick-up truck and the Mercedes she usually drove. When the motor turned off, Randy got out of the Hummer and grabbed his bags from the back and waited for Liz to unlock the door to the house. He leaned on the wall as he waited. Randy was startled when the garage started going down again; it was much more loud than he expected it to be. Liz pointed to where he was standing. "You leaned on the button." She said referring to the illuminated button on the wall that controlled the garage door. Randy nodded and yawned.

Liz unlocked the door and walked in; she showed Randy around the house. "This is the kitchen, the dining room is over there and here's the living room. This is the foyer, over there is the den, the sunroom through there, the laundry room is around the corner, an office is right here, and the guest bathroom is right there." she said as she lazily pointed at the rooms. Randy wasn't really paying attention; he was waiting to be shown a guest room so he could go to bed. He followed Liz up a flight of spiral stairs.

"That's the game room and my workout stuff is in that room. This is my room and the rest of these rooms are guest rooms; they all have a closet and a bathroom. You can pick whichever one you want." she said as she pointed to closed doors.

Randy nodded. "Thanks for picking me up and letting me stay here." he said.

Liz waved him off. "You're welcome. I'm going to bed. Good night," she said as she walked away.

"Good night, Lizard. Love you." Randy replied.

"Love you, too, Casanova." Liz said over her shoulder.

It was nearly five o'clock in the morning when Randy and Liz retreated into their rooms and went to bed.

That afternoon, Liz was woken by Randy who was shaking her awake. She groaned in frustration. "What do you want?" she asked in an irritated tone as she was still wrapped up in her bed sheets with her face still buried in the pillow.

"How do you turn on the shower?" Randy asked.

Liz started glaring at Randy for a split second and saw that he was naked apart from a towel wrapped around his waist. The fluffy white fabric rested low on his hips. "Why are you naked?" she asked as she sat up.

Randy shrugged. "I took off my clothes and put them in the wash before I got in the shower, but then I couldn't figure out how to turn on the water," he explained.

Liz sighed and dragged herself to the guest room Randy was sleeping in. She went into the bathroom and waited for him to follow her. When Randy showed up behind her, Liz pressed one of the buttons in the shower. "There," she said and walked away.

"What kind of shower doesn't have regular knobs?" Randy asked.

Liz rolled her eyes. "Do you know how many people die in the shower?" she asked. Randy shook his head. "One person everyday dies in the bathtub or shower because they slip and hit their head on the knobs. Do you want to be that one person today? I don't think you do. I'm saving your life today." She said.

He didn't say anything else; Liz was already cranky and he didn't want to make it worse. When she left the bathroom, Randy peeled off the towel and stepped under the hot spray of the water. He lingered in the shower for a while to get a good, hot water massage. When he was done, he couldn't figure out how to turn off the shower. He decided to ask Liz after he got dressed. He quickly dressed in a pair of sweatpants his RKO t-shirt.

Randy left the room and looked for Liz in her room, but she wasn't there. He suddenly heard a faint noise in the kitchen and he followed the sounds. Randy found Liz bent over in the refrigerator.

"How do you turn off the shower?" he asked. Liz jumped and bumped her head on a refrigerator fixture.

"Dammit, Randy!" she yelped. "It's the same button I pressed to turn it on!" she yelled.

Randy stood there dumbfounded. "Oh. I didn't think about that." He said as he walked away. Liz sighed and continued her work in the kitchen.

While Randy was gone, the doorbell rang. Liz smiled; she was expecting someone. She quickly walked to the door and opened it. She kissed the man deeply, but broke the kiss when she heard Randy's footsteps.

"Who are you?" Randy asked the guy at the door. Liz took a deep breath and let the man inside; she closed the door behind him.

"Tucker, this is Randy; Randy, this is my boyfriend Tucker." She said nervously. She knew Randy wasn't going to react well to her having a boyfriend.

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	2. Heartbroken

**Chapter 2—Heartbroken**

**A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. **

"We need to talk, Liz," Tucker said.

Liz nodded. "Sure; we can talk while I finish making lunch." she said. Tucker sighed and followed her to the kitchen. As the young man passed by, Randy looked him over and cocked an eyebrow. Randy had a bad feeling about this guy, but he dismissed the uneasiness and credited it to his protective instincts.

Randy and Tucker sat at the kitchen's bar while Liz made the sandwiches. "So what did you want to talk about, babe?" she asked.

Tucker sighed and glanced at Randy. "I think it would be best if we spoke alone." Tucker said to Liz.

Liz frowned. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

Tucker nodded. "Yeah. Uh, everything is fine. It's just private and I don't know if you're okay with him being here." He said.

Randy scoffed; Liz chuckled. "It's okay, Tucker. He's like a brother to me. We can talk in front of him. Plus, I have a feeling he doesn't want us to be alone together." She said. Randy nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Tucker took a shaky breath before he continued. "We've been together for a while now, and I think we're great together. I've never met someone so perfect for me."

"Wait. How long have you been together?" Randy asked him.

Tucker thought for a second. "About seven months." he said.

Randy was shocked, angry, and disappointed all at the same time. "Why am I just now hearing about this, Elizabeth?" he asked crossly. Liz usually told him everything and vice versa; they had no secrets.

Liz sighed. "Because," she said.

Randy rolled his eyes. "Because, why?" he asked a little more upset than before.

"Because I knew how you were going to react. We met a few weeks before youleft. I decided that was going to tell you whenever you got back, but you never did… until now. Plus, I'm not 16 anymore, Randy. I'm an adult and I'm perfectly capable of picking a decent boyfriend. I really like Tucker and like he said, we're great together." She said without eye contact. She didn't want to see the disappointment in Randy's eyes; she had already heard enough of it in his voice.

Randy shook his head and stood from the bar stool; he left Liz and Tucker alone in the kitchen. Liz sighed. She waited until she heard Randy close the guestroom door upstairs before she turned her attention to Tucker again. "I'm sorry about that, baby. What were you saying?" she asked.

Tucker looked down at his hands as they rested on the bar counter. "Listen, Liz. I think you're an amazing girl, but I'm breaking up with you. You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to tell you in person. I was going to call to tell you, but I wanted to do this like a man. I'm sorry." With that, Tucker got up and left.

Liz stood in the kitchen in shock; she never saw the break-up coming. She started to hyperventilate and soon, she could barely breathe at all. She went upstairs to Randy's room as quickly as she could; she banged on the door. Randy opened the door and his eyes went wide. Liz's face was red and she panting.

Randy guided her to the bed and tried to get her to calm down. "Take deep breaths; in through your nose, out through your mouth." He instructed. Liz did as she was told and soon enough she was able to breathe normally, but she was still crying.

"What happened, Liz?" Randy asked as he held her close.

She sniffled. "Tucker broke up with me." She said through sobs. Liz felt rumbling through Randy's body; he was livid.

"I knew I didn't like him for some reason." He said through his teeth. Liz continued to cry into his chest; he calmed himself down so he could more effectively comfort her. "Shh. Don't cry over him, Lizard. An asshole like him doesn't deserve you, anyway. He's the one who should be crying. He's going to miss out on a great girl," Randy said as he rubbed soothing circles on her back. Liz continued to cry for almost an hour; Randy just held her.

She sniffled and wiped her eyes when she was all cried out. "Thank you." she said.

Randy frowned. "For what?" he asked.

Liz shrugged. "I don't know. For visiting me. For always being there for me when I needed you… even when you were really far away." She said.

Randy smiled and kissed her forehead. "You don't have to thank me for that, Lizard. I'll always be here for you." he said sweetly.

Liz smiled. "I know," She took a deep breath. "I'm going to go back to the kitchen and finish the sandwiches." She said as she stood from the bed.

Randy nodded; he knew she was still hurting. She was going to be hurting for a long time and he knew there was hardly anything he could do to make her feel better.

"How early do you want to be at the arena?" Liz asked.

He thought for a moment. "Maybe three hours before the show starts. So maybe we could get there at 4 o'clock. I want to introduce you to everybody, then I have to get a quick workout, then I have the production meeting." He explained.

Liz nodded. "We'll have to leave here by three thirty if you want to get there at four. What time is it now?"

Randy pulled his smart phone from his pocket and checked the time. "2:42" he said. "I'm going to pack up some stuff, then we'll eat and leave." He continued.

"Alright. We're leaving at 3:30." She reiterated. Randy nodded and got up from the bed to pack. Liz left him to it.

Soon enough, Liz finished the sandwiches. She went back upstairs to let Randy know they were done. "Lunch is finished. There are two sandwiches on the counter. The one on the left his roast beef and the one on the right is turkey and ham." She said. Randy imagined the counter top to determine where the sandwiches would be and nodded. "Thanks," he said. Liz nodded and left to change for the house show.

In her bedroom, Liz dressed in black denim skinny jeans, a fitted white V-neck t-shirt, a red blazer, and a pair of black peep toe platform heels. She fluffed her curly, kinky hair out with an afro pick and pulled it into a bun on the crown of her head; she also added a decorative pin to the side of the bun. Liz sat at her vanity and draped a cloth over her chest to protect her clothing from the makeup she was about to put on; the particles of her loose powder tended to drop onto her clothes. Her makeup consisted of all natural colors. Her eye shadow had speckles of gold; her blush was a mixed shade of pink and tan; she used a nude color of lipstick to even out the natural look. She applied a minimal amount of mascara and put on her jewelry to complete her outfit; the pearl earrings and necklace really classed up her ensemble. She spritzed on some perfume and went downstairs to find Randy.

When she got downstairs, Liz saw Randy had already put his gym bag in the Hummer; he had also eaten his sandwich. She tried to figure out how long she had been getting ready; the way she saw it, she either took a really long time or Randy packed and ate really fast.

Randy heard her come into the room as he was folding his freshly washed and dried laundry. "Geez. Took you long enough." he said without looking at her. When he finally looked away from his folding, he gasped when he saw Liz. "You do know that it's just a house show, right? It's not even on TV." Randy said.

Liz nodded. "I just like to dress up when I feel bad." She said.

Randy smiled softly and nodded. "You look nice, by the way." He said.

"Thanks, Casanova." She said. Randy shook his head; he always hated that nick name. Liz had come up with it years ago because of Randy's reputation for dating so many girls in a short period of time.

"I haven't had a real girlfriend since you were in high school, so that whole Casanova thing is null and void." Randy said.

Liz was surprised. "Two years without a girlfriend! Who are you and what have you done with the real Randy?!" she asked jokingly.

Randy chuckled even though it wasn't a laughing matter. He would never tell Liz, but she was reason why he hadn't had a real relationship in so long. Randy always made sure to tell the women he was interested in that they would never be number one on his list of priorities. In Randy's eyes, the first woman on his list besides his mother is Liz. Any girlfriend would come after Liz, always. None of the women could handle that so they broke it off before the relationship could progress.

Liz went to the kitchen and saw that Randy had eaten the roast beef sandwich so by default, the turkey and ham was hers. She scarfed the sandwich down and tidied the kitchen. She grabbed her purse, keys, and phone before leaving the house. Randy followed her. Liz tossed Randy the keys to the hummer and hopped into the passenger seat. It was 3:23 and they were off to the area.

Twenty five minutes later, Randy pulled into the arena's designated parking lot. He saw the news cameras and fans waiting outside the car and groaned. "Are you going to be okay with them taking pictures of you?" he asked.

Liz nodded. "I don't mind it. At least I look cute." She said with a light chuckle. Randy shook his head and got out of the vehicle. Immediately, fans and reporters screamed his name.

"Who is that, Randy?!" a reporter yelled referring to Liz. Randy and Liz ignored the question.

"What about JoJo?!" another reporter questioned. Again, Randy and Liz ignored the inquiry. After what seemed like forever, Randy and Liz were inside the heavily secured backstage area of the arena.

Randy checked with the stage manager to find his dressing room; the manager directed Randy to his designated area. When they were finally in the dressing room, Liz smirked.

"What?" Randy asked when he saw the look on her face.

"So, you and JoJo?" she asked. Liz was familiar with JoJo. Being so close to The Viper forced Liz to know the ins and outs of all things WWE. Jojo was a new diva; she competed in NXT, WWE's developmental territory.

Randy frowned. "Hell no. Some idiot started a rumor about us dating and now everybody believes it," He explained. Liz nodded and accepted the answer even though she didn't believe him. She knew Randy's type and JoJo was the exact definition of his type: she was exotic, she had warm skin tone, she was a natural brunette, and she had a nice smile. To prevent Liz from thinking further into the topic, Randy changed the subject. "C'mon. Let me introduce you to everybody." He said as he walked away.

Liz nodded and followed him. Randy introduced her to literally everybody.

She expected to only meet the people closest to Randy like John Cena and Cody Rhodes; she met them last.

An hour later, Randy disappeared to a different part of the backstage area to work out at the stations WWE set up for the superstars. Liz spent that time talking to John who didn't have an actual match that night. They had started quite the conversation; they talked about everything from food to wrestling. John was like a second Randy; Liz really liked him. She quickly thought of John as another friend.

"Randy talks about you all the time." John said unexpectedly.

Liz smiled. "I'm so sorry. I know how longwinded he can be." She said. It was just a nice way of saying that Randy talked way too much.

John chuckled. "Remind me again how you know him?" he asked.

Liz nodded. "His sister and I share a birthday and we lived next door to each other. So naturally, Becky and I became really good friends. Ever since she died, Randy has been like a brother to me. I spent a lot of time in the Orton house. That's pretty much it. There just isn't much to tell." She said.

John was about to say something else when Randy went up to Liz and tried to hug her. She shrieked and used John as a shield; she didn't want to get covered in Randy's sweat. John laughed at the pair.

"That's just cold, Liz." Randy said with a stifled laugh as he shook his head. Liz mockingly stuck her tongue at the sweaty wrestler. "The show is starting soon. You might want to go find your seat." Randy suggested. Liz nodded and said goodbye to him and John. Liz hadn't planned on buying a ticket because she was going to hang out with Randy backstage, but Randy insisted on buying the ticket for her.

Liz walked around the arena until she found her ringside seat. She sat with her purse in her lap and waited for the show to start. She was mesmerized by the stage setup; she had been to plenty of live events, but she didn't frequent house shows often. Since they weren't recorded for TV, Liz hadn't seen the new set. The stage was much more elaborate than it had been in the past; there were real LCD screens and an illuminated WWE logo. It was really ostentatious for a house show; she was impressed.

When the show was over, Liz went backstage to meet up with Randy. She found him laughing with Cody and John. He had already showered and changed clothes from his match. "Hey, Lizard!" Randy said with a smile when he saw her walk up. Liz glared at Randy for calling her that in front of other people. It was a nickname she didn't care for; even though it came from part of her name, being called a lizard isn't really something a person can embrace. Randy hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

"I kind of told them it was okay to come back to your place and hang out for a while. I figured you'd be okay with it," Randy said.

Liz nodded. "That's fine. It'll be nice to have a full house for a few hours." She said. John and Cody smiled.

"Awesome. We just need to grab our bags from the locker room and we'll be ready." John said. At that, he and Cody disappeared.

Liz and Randy were left talking amongst themselves when Phil, otherwise known as CM Punk, showed up.

"Hey, Randal," he said with a sarcastic grin.

Randy glared at him for calling him 'Randal' because Randy knew Punk was only doing it out of spite. He knew Randy hated being called by his full first name.

"Well?" Punk asked.

Randy frowned. "Well what?" he asked.

Punk shook his head. "You are just so rude, Randal. Aren't you going to introduce me to this gorgeous woman? Ya know, introduce her to a real man?" he asked.

Randy didn't answer; he didn't even bother to introduce the two. Liz rolled her eyes at Randy's stubbornness and introduced herself.

"Hey. I'm Liz. It's good to meet you. I'm a fan of your work; I've watched you since your days in Ring of Honor. You've come a long way," she said.

Punk smiled. "Well would you look at that. She's beautiful and she knows talent when she sees it. Can't get any better than that, Randal. I wonder how you landed such a great gal?" he asked.

Liz laughed. "We aren't dating; we're just friends. I grew up next door to him," she said.

Punk smiled. "So are you seeing anybody?" he asked.

Before Liz could answer, Randy stepped in front of her. "She's not interested, Phil. Back off," he said with a growl.

Punk put his hands up in defense. "Woah! Down, boy. Lizzy, you might want to call off your guard dog before he gets unfortunately hurt." He said.

"Her name is Liz; not Lizzy," Randy snarled.

Liz rolled her eyes. "It's okay, Randy. Chill out," she said.

Randy looked to her with concerned eyes; then, he stared at Punk again. "Walk away, Phil." Randy ordered.

Punk smirked and held out his hand towards Liz. "It was nice meeting you, Lizzy," he said. Liz smiled and shook his hand.

"It was nice meeting you, too, Punk." She said.

Punk waved her off. "Please. Call me Phil. I only let the gorgeous girls call me Phil," he said.

Liz smiled. "Okay. Nice to meet you, Phil. Maybe I'll see you around." She said.

Punk nodded. "Yeah. I hope so; just don't tell big, bad Randal. You might get us in trouble." He said.

Liz laughed.

"Phil. Leave." Randy said sternly.

"Okay, okay. I'm leaving. You know where to find me if you get the urge, Lizzy." Punk said with a wink as he walked away.

Liz's smile lingered after Punk walked away. Randy shook his head. " What? He seems sweet," Liz said.

"I don't think you should hang out with him." Randy said.

Liz frowned. "Why not," she asked.

Randy sighed. "Because," he answered.

"Because what," she asked.

He groaned. "Because I said so!" he said.

She scoffed. "Excuse me?" she asked. She couldn't believe Randy was being so overbearing towards her.

He sighed. "He'll use you so he can get to me. I just don't want you to get hurt," he explained.

Liz thought about it for a moment. She decided that she could accept Randy's reasoning for her to keep her distance from Punk.

Soon enough, John and Cody returned from the locker rooms with their bags.

"Alright, let's head out." Randy said to the three people standing around him.

"Do you mind if we get a ride with you? Punk was our ride and he already left." Cody asked Randy.

Randy shrugged. "You have to ask Liz. It's her car, not mine." He said.

Liz playfully slapped Randy's chest making him laugh. "Of course! I don't mind," She said. "but I ride shotgun" she said with a smile. John and Cody nodded as they followed Liz and Randy to the Hummer.

When the four people arrived at Liz's house, she gave a more detailed tour. Randy noticed a lot more than he did the first time through the house. He hadn't noticed before, but all the floors were hardwood, every piece of furniture was real leather, and each room was painted a different color.

"This is really nice, Elizabeth," John said.

"Liz. Please call me Liz." She corrected. John and Cody nodded.

Since John and Cody didn't have any way to get back to the hotel, Liz let them sleep in the other guest rooms. It was nearly midnight when Randy helped Liz clean up after the other guests finally went to bed. John, Randy, and Cody had managed to make a mess of popcorn. "Thanks for your help." Liz said.

"No problem. It's the least I could do," he replied. Liz smiled and continued to clean up. Even though Randy was able to take her mind off of Tucker for the evening, the thought of him walking out on her was starting creep up on her again. She sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Tucker at first," she said out of the blue.

Randy took a deep breath. "You know what? Like you said, you're an adult and you can pick a boyfriend for yourself without having my approval. You can go out with who ever you want as long as you like him." He said with a genuine smile. Little did he know, those words were going to come back to haunt him.

**PLEASE REVIEW.**


	3. Shattered

**Chapter 3—Shattered**

**A/N: I'm really heartbroken by the lack of reviews. At least one review would be nice. I love y'all and I really want to know if this story is crap or not. That's why I want y'all to review. Your input is crucial to me. Thanks. Please review.**

The next morning, Randy woke up early for a jog around the neighborhood; it was a little after five o'clock. He pulled on a pair of basketball shorts and an old RKO shirt he wore specifically for workouts. He made sure to keep quiet because he thought Liz was still sleeping. When he got downstairs, however, he saw that she was in the living room watching a movie. She was curled up under a blanket with a pint of ice cream; Randy could tell she had been crying. He sighed and slowly approached her.

"Hey, Liz," he said softly. Liz was a bit startled; she flinched and tried to quickly wipe the traces of tears from her face. She sniffled.

"Hey," she said quietly with a forced smile. She tried so hard to hide her sadness, but Randy saw right through her. He gave a small smile and sat next to her on the sofa; he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. She broke down and sobbed into his chest; she was taking the breakup with Tucker much harder than Randy expected her to. She had always been a very emotionally strong person. That's how Randy knew she was truly in love with Tucker before he broke her heart.

After a few minutes, Liz had stopped crying; Randy looked down and saw that she had fallen asleep. She was stunningly beautiful. Randy just couldn't understand how someone could break up with her out of the blue. He figured Liz needed some undisturbed sleep so he dismissed the idea of going for a jog. She was nuzzled so deep into his body that if he moved, she would wake up.

Instead of going for his intended jog, Randy flipped through the channels on the TV and landed on a comedy film. It wasn't as funny as he had hoped; the jokes weren't funny, and the acting was terrible. The movie that aired following the failed attempt at comedy was much better. There were several moments in the second movie that Randy thought was hilarious. He laughed heartily and Liz woke up. "Shit," he said under his breath.

She yawned and stretched. "What time is it?" she asked sleepily. Randy checked TV's guide for the time. "Almost 8:30," he said. Liz nodded and returned to her position on Randy's chest, but she stayed awake.

"What are you doing today?" she asked Randy.

"I was hoping to go for a run sometime today. Other than that, I'm free." He said.

Liz nodded. She wanted to get out of the house and do something besides wallow in her own self-pity. "There's a car show in town today. Maybe we could go and invite John to come, too," she said.

Randy sighed. "I don't think that's such a good idea after what happened with Tucker" he said.

"I'm not interested in him, Randy," Liz said as she sat up. "He said he likes cars when I talked to him last night," she said.

"Oh. Yeah, he does." Randy said quietly. "Maybe we can make it a big WWE thing," he recommended.

"That sounds like a good idea. Will Vince be okay with that?" she asked. She knew Vince McMahon, WWE's CEO, needed to approve anything the WWE Superstars and Divas did for the public.

Randy thought for a moment. "It shouldn't be a problem. I'll give him a call."

Liz smiled and waited for Randy to call his boss.

**Hey, Mr. McMahon. I heard there's a great car show in Madison today. I thought it would be a good idea for some of the superstars and divas to go. Maybe we could sign autographs for the first 50 people who show up and promote the upcoming pay-per-view. What do you think? … Yeah. I think so. … Great! Thank you so much! … Alright. See you then. **

"So, what did he say?" Liz asked.

"He was just asking if the car show was just for one day." Randy answered.

Liz nodded. "Yep. It's only for today." She said. "If you still wanted to go jogging, you can. By the time you get back and take a shower, breakfast should be ready." She said.

Randy nodded. "Awesome. I should be back in about an hour." He said.

"Okay. Enjoy your run." Liz said as Randy left out the door.

When Randy left, Liz went up to her room and took a shower; she shaved her legs and washed her hair, too. When she was done with the shower, she dried off and smoothed lotion on her body, then spritzed on perfume. She slipped into a pair of panties and her bra before she did her makeup. Her makeup was very simple; she only put on pressed powder, mascara, and lipstick. She dressed in high-waisted denim shorts, a pink and white striped tank-top, and black wedge peep toe booties. She double checked herself in the mirror and was satisfied. She searched her trunk of accessories until she found the perfect cross-body bag for her outfit. She put all of her necessities in it: her phone, wallet, lipstick, and keys. Then she searched through the trunk for the exact pair of sunglasses she wanted to wear for the day. When she was all put-together, Liz made her way downstairs into the kitchen where she started cooking breakfast.

Liz started with homemade pancakes batter. When the batter was made, she let it sit to rise a little while she laid out some bacon on a pan to put in the oven. Liz knew the bacon worked like an alarm clock; as if on cue, John and Cody had come from the guest rooms looking for breakfast. Liz quickly turned them away.

"Nope! In this house, you take a shower _before _eating breakfast. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to eat before cleaning their body first. It's weird and I don't like it. Now, git!" she said almost jokingly. In reality, Liz was completely serious about them taking a shower first. The two guests seemed to be utterly confused.

"I don't think I stuttered. Shower first. Food second." She said in broken sentences. John and Cody looked at each other before heading back upstairs.

Fifteen minutes later, Randy came through the door. He smiled when he smelled breakfast from the kitchen; he followed the smell and saw Liz behind the island setting the kitchen bar with plates and glasses. Liz saw him and groaned. "Out of the kitchen! Take a shower and come back!" she yelled.

Randy held up his hands in defense. "Sorry. I just want a bottle of water," he said innocently.

"Well get out of the kitchen and I'll bring you a bottle of water." She said pointed to the area that separated the kitchen from the foyer. Randy stepped behind the imaginary line and waited for Liz to bring him a cold bottle of water. When she finally showed up with the water, Randy got a full look at what she had on. He shook his head at how little clothes she had on.

Liz handed Randy the cold water; Randy quickly grabbed her for a tight, sweaty hug. Liz struggled to escape the hold, but it was no uses; she was trapped. When Randy finally let her go, she was more than upset.

She groaned. "Now, I have to go change clothes!" she said as she looked at her sweat stained outfit.

Randy nodded. "Maybe this time you could try to find actual clothes that cover you up," he said.

Liz scoffed. "Really? You did all that just to tell me to change clothes?!" she asked angrily.

"What did you expect me to do? You might as well be naked; you look like a twenty-five cent hooker!" he yelled at her.

She got quiet; her eyes started to water. Randy sighed. "I didn't mean it like that, Lizard. I'm so sorry."

"Fuck you, Randy!" she yelled before stomping away. She passed John and Cody on the way; they had both taken showers and gotten dressed for the day.

Randy kicked himself for being so harsh with Liz. He took a deep breath and went up the stairs to take a shower of his own when he passed John and Cody.

Cody saw him first. "What's up with Liz?" he asked Randy.

Randy sighed. "I said something I shouldn't have said," he said. Cody accepted that answer and went to the kitchen for his breakfast. John didn't accept Randy's answer that easily.

"What did you say, man?" John asked.

Randy shook his head. "I don't want to repeat it. I shouldn't have said it in the first place," he said; he truly regretted his harsh words. John only nodded and walked away as he followed Cody into the kitchen.

Randy continued up the stairs and went to the guest room he had been sleeping in to take a shower. Once he was cleaned up, he dressed in his vintage RKO t-shirt and jeans. He sighed knowing how badly he had hurt Liz's feelings. He collected his thoughts and went to Liz's room. The door was closed so he knocked.

"Liz?" he called out as he pushed the door opened. "Lizard?" he called out again. Randy saw didn't see Liz but he heard her quietly crying in her closet; he followed the sounds. Liz was sitting on the floor of her closet with her head in her hands; she had changed clothes. Randy sighed and sat next to her.

"I didn't mean what I said." He said as he pulled Liz into his chest.

She sniffled. "Then why did you say it?" she asked.

Randy took a deep breath. "It's just that I get so angry to see you like this; you're better than dressing like that, Elizabeth. What Tucker did to you has nothing to do with you; that was his decision. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you."

Liz shook her head. "You don't know that," she said.

"Neither do you." Randy said.

She nodded. "Yes, I do. I told him I was a virgin and that I didn't want to have sex until I get married," she said.

"Really?" he asked. "That's an even bigger loss for him! If he didn't see how special you are for wanting to wait, he wasn't good enough for you in the first place."

Liz stayed quiet; she had stopped crying, but she just wanted to be held for a few minutes before she was ready.

"I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Liz," Randy said. He chuckled. "I really need to stop being so protective, huh?" he asked.

Liz laughed and nodded. "Yeah. I think that would be best for everyone involved." She said half-jokingly. Randy helped her up and hugged her tightly. "Thanks, Randy. You always know exactly what to say. If I could find a boyfriend who was like you, I'd be set for life." She said with a light chuckled. Randy forced a laughed and watched Liz leave the closet. He sighed and followed her to the kitchen.

Downstairs, John and Cody had eaten all of the pancakes and bacon Liz had made for everyone.

"Seriously, guys? You ate all the food? You could have saved at least four pancakes for me and Randy to eat."

Cody shrugged. "We're sorry. We just got carried away. I can make more if you want." He offered.

Liz shook her head. "No, thanks. I'll do it." She said as she took out all the pancakes ingredients and bacon again.

"How many pancakes did you make anyway?" Randy asked.

"More than 15, I know that much." She said.

Randy's eyes widened. "How much bacon?" he asked; he was almost afraid to even know.

Liz thought for a moment. "A hell of a lot more than 15 strips." She said.

Randy shook his head. "You two really ate fifteen pancakes and all that bacon together?" he asked.

John and Cody nodded. Liz laughed; she really didn't mind that the guys had eaten all the food. It meant that they enjoyed her cooking and what woman doesn't like it when men eat her food? She didn't have a problem with making more food for her and Randy.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Randy asked.

"Nope. I've got it. Thanks anyway." She said with a smile. Randy nodded and went to the living room.

John and Cody followed Randy to the living room. Randy sat on the couch and sighed. Cody and John each sat on one side of him.

"Is everything okay, man?" Cody asked. Randy nodded.

"You sure?" John asked.

Randy sighed. "Liz is just going through some stuff right now. It'll be okay." He said.

Cody shook his head. "No, man. I meant is everything okay with you? You seem a little off." The youngest man clarified.

Randy shrugged. "I guess I'm okay. I just don't know how to start. It's hard to explain." He said.

John sat up. "Try to explain it the best you can." He said.

"I think I—" Randy was inturreped when Liz walked in.

"Do you want blueberry pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, or regular pancakes?" she asked.

Randy smiled. "It doesn't matter. Regular is fine." He said. Liz nodded and walked away.

John and Cody saw the look in Randy's eyes when he was talking to Liz. John and Cody looked at each other and decided to drop the subject.

"So, what are we doing today?" Cody asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"Oh, yeah! We're all going to a car show a few minutes away. Liz told me about it; she said it'll be fun. I called Vince and told him about it. He thought it was a great idea for everybody to go." Randy said.

"That sounds like fun. Is Liz coming, too?" John asked with hope.

Randy glared at him. "She already told me that she's not interested." He said.

John frowned. "I never said I was interested. I was just curious. I don't know about you, but I would hate to walk around a city I've never been in without someone who lives here." He said.

Randy nodded and understood. "That makes sense." He said.

The three men decided to watch some TV until the pancakes were ready.

Liz called Randy from the kitchen. "Randy!" she yelled.

Randy rubbed his belly and jumped up; he though the pancakes were ready, but he was shocked to see Liz standing on the counter top.

"What the hell." he said.

"Randy…" she wined.

"What is going on?" Randy asked.

Liz shakily pointed across the room.

Randy looked towards the direction Liz was pointing.

"Holy shit, that's a big ass spider!" He yelled as he crawled up onto the kitchen bar.

"I called you in here to kill the fucking thing!" Liz yelled at him.

"I can't kill that goddamn thing! It's fucking huge!" Randy shouted.

John and Cody came around the corner to see what all the commotion was about.

"Spider!" Liz and Randy yelled and pointed simultaneously.

John and Cody laughed; John walked up to the spider before stepping on it.

Liz breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much, John. Randy was being a little bitch about the spider." She said.

"You were up on the counter top to get away from the damn thing." Randy accused.

"Yeah, and I called a _man_ to help me! You're so freaking useless." She joked.

Randy shook his head and jumped off the bar.

"So is the food ready?" Randy asked.

Liz glared at him. "Yeah. But I ought not to give you anything. You don't deserve to eat." She joked.

"Oh, you know you love me, Lizard." Randy said with a smile.

Liz chuckled and handed him an empty plate before serving the pancakes and bacon. Randy licked his lips at the thick, fluffy pancakes; he poured syrup on the pancakes and cut into them. His eyes rolled as he tasted the sweet breakfast. "What do you want to drink?" she asked.

Randy continued to revel in the taste; he didn't even hear Liz question. She waited until his exaggerated reaction was done before asking again. "What do you want to drink, Randy?" she reiterated.

"Oh… um, do you have milk?" he asked shyly; he had always loved milk but he saw milk as something only for children. He never thought it was acceptable for fully grown men to drink milk just to drink it. He couldn't help it, though; milk was his favorite beverage…aside from any alcohol, of course.

Liz nodded and poured Randy a glass of milk.

"Thanks, Liz," he said.

She smiled. "You're welcome."

The two made light conversation as they ate; John and Cody joined only in the conversation since they had already eaten.

"So," Randy started with his mouth full. "What kind of cars are going to be at this supposed car show?" she asked.

Liz shrugged. "I don't know. Just cars." She answered simply. "I don't know how long the show is going to last, but I need to go by the mall after." She continued.

"The mall? For what?" Randy asked.

"I just need to go to the mall for something." She said vaguely.

"Why are you being so suspicious all of a sudden?" John asked.

Liz rolled her eyes. "If you must know, I need to get some bras and panties," she said.

Randy choked on his food. Liz laughed.

"I don't need to hear about you getting bras and panties!" he said once he cleared his throat.

"Not my fault; John asked." She said as she stood to wash out her now empty plate.

John and Cody laughed at Randy.

"What's so funny?" Randy asked.

Cody shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing at all," Cody said.

Randy was befuddled by Cody and John's sudden chuckles. "Whatever," he said as he stood with his empty plate as well. He was going to give it to Liz when he saw her washing out her syrup laced plate. He stared at her; he didn't realize he was staring, but John and Cody noticed. Her toned legs were longer than ever, her hips were wide and curvy; her waist curved in perfectly; her soft, kinky hair was pulled up but there were small curls that had escaped from the bun; and the tank top she wore showed off her tattoo. "To infinity…" was permanently inked slightly below her shoulder blade. Randy absentmindedly looked at the "…and beyond" tattoo on his forearm.

"…like that?" Liz said.

"Huh?" Randy ask after he cleared his mind.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked again.

"Oh, nothing." He said as he handed Liz his plate. He then quickly left the kitchen.

Liz frowned at Randy's strange behavior. She eventually shrugged it off and washed out his plate.

John and Cody followed Randy to the living room. Just as they walked in, Randy sighed heavily and sat in a recliner.

"Dude." Cody said.

"What?" Randy asked sharply; it was an indication for Cody not to continue with whatever he was going to say unless he wanted to be injured in some way.

Cody knew exactly what the tone of voice meant; they had been friends for just as long as Liz and Randy had, if not longer. He kept his mouth shut and shook his head.

Randy just sat there with his eyes closed until Liz came from the kitchen. "So, are you guys ready to go?" she asked.

John and Cody nodded, but Randy sighed.

"You okay, Sugar?" Liz asked.

Randy nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." He said. Liz didn't believe him; she knew something was bothering him, but she knew better than to push the subject.

"You up for driving?" she asked.

"Nah. I'm good; you can drive." He said.

Liz knew something was definitely bothering Randy if he didn't want to drive the Hummer. She made a note to address the situation later on when she and Randy could get alone.

"Alright! Let's head out!" Liz said excitedly. "I can't drive in heels, so John? Cody? Either of you want to drive?" she asked. John and Cody raised their hands at the same time.

Liz chuckled. "Fight amongst yourselves." She said.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors?" John asked. Cody nodded. The men pounded the palms of their hands with their fists until someone finally won. John, the oldest of the men, won. He raised his fists in victory and held out his hands for the keys. Liz tossed them to him and locked up the house and made sure everything was turned off.

When all four of them got outside, Cody called shotgun. Liz was shocked; she was planning on riding shotgun, but Cody won it fair and square.

She and Randy sat in the back and rode quietly. Liz was confused; Randy was usually really talkative during car rides. "Are you okay, Randy?" she asked quietly so that John and Cody couldn't hear her. Randy ignored her and looked out the window. Liz was offended by the gesture so she just ignored him the rest of the way. All that could be heard was the GPS system telling John where to go and the music that was playing softly.

Eventually, John pulled into a parking lot designated for people attending the car show. Once he parked the Hummer, everyone got out and wondered towards the growing group of WWE Superstars and Divas. The Divas were dressed in short, tight dresses and extremely high heels; Liz thought they looked beautiful. The Superstars, however, seemed to have dressed in whatever was on top of the pile of clothes in their suitcases. Liz chuckled to herself at their unkemptness.

Together, they all walked to the lot of old, new, and remodeled cars for the car show. Music blared through the speakers that were posted around lot of cars. Each section of cars had a specific kind of music playing to match the decade of the car. Classic rock was played for cars made in the 70s; groovy jams played for cars that were made in the 80s; classic R&B and hip-hop from that era played for cars that rolled off the assembly line in the 90s. Current dance music played for cars made in the 21st century.

John migrated to the 70s cars for their builds; they were his favorite kinds of cars; after he looked at all of them, he went to the section for 90s cars just to listen to the music. He knew just about every song that came on; he rapped to them all.

Cody didn't know much about cars, so he just followed friends like Punk and John around.

Randy didn't care much for cars at all; he was much more interested in motorcycles. Since he wasn't concerned with the cars, he kept an eye on Liz. He noticed a few guys around her age looking at her when they arrived.

Liz was looking at the cars from the 21st century. She was gazing at a red-orange sports car; the butterfly doors were already open. The interior was advertised as 100% leather. The electronics on the inside looked like they were from the future; the car itself looked that way, too. Liz didn't know much about the car; she was really only listening to the music that was playing. Her hips swayed involuntarily at the music; being a dancer, it was natural for her body to move to music. Across the lot, there was a man watching Liz's moves; she noticed him and smiled. He offered a smile in return and approached her.

"Hey," he said.

Liz smiled and batted her lashes. "Hi." she said.

"You like this car, huh?" He asked; his Italian accent practically shined.

She giggled at the accent and shrugged. "I have no idea what kind of car this is, but it looks good," she said.

The man laughed. "This is a 2014 Potenza P1. It has over 2000 horsepower; it goes from 0 to 100 in less than 2 seconds," he explained. "The doors open 3 ways; butterfly, backwards, and the original old-timey way." He said with a slight chuckle.

"Wow. Is all that really necessary for a car? Whoever came up with the design sounds like some egotistical douche." Liz said.

The man gasped. "Really? I'm offended." He said with his hand on his chest.

Liz frowned. "Why?" she asked.

He laughed. "I designed this car, but my father is the big shot who got it made. I'm Nicholas Potenza." He said as he offered his hand in a greeting.

Liz blushed in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry." She said quietly.

Nicholas laughed. "No need to apologize. I don't think you ever told me your name," he said.

"Oh, I'm Liz. It's good to meet you Nicholas." She said.

He smiled. "Good to meet you, too. I hear a slight accent." He said.

Liz chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. My dad was born in Italy. He lived there his whole life until he married my mom. I didn't think I had an accent; I've been in America my entire life." She said.

Nicholas nodded. "I guess we Italians can spot our own in strange ways." He said.

She giggled and nodded.

"So, would you be interested in taking a ride in the Potenza?" Nicholas asked.

"Are you sure no one would mind?" she asked skeptically.

Nicholas shrugged. "Why would they? It's _my _name on the car." He said.

Liz laughed. "True… I'd love to go for a ride." She said.

He nodded and led Liz to the passenger side and helped her inside the car. As he closed the butterfly doors, he winked at Liz; she blushed. Nicholas then pulled a set of keys from his pocket; he ducked into the driver seat, closed the door, and started the car. He revved the engine a bit.

"You hear how it purrs?" he asked Liz. She nodded. "Well, that's not the only thing I can make purr." He said sensuously.

Liz raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Oh, really?" she asked.

Nicholas smirked and pulled off. There had been a designated strip of road that was blocked off for people to test drive the cars at the show. He sped down the road, giving the car all it could take. He made sharp turns as he drifted into them. The car vibrated softly as the driver manhandled it. When the ride was done, Nicholas returned the car to its spot in the car show's display lot. It was where Randy was waiting impatiently; Liz could tell that he was angry, but she didn't say anything to Nicholas about it.

Before Nicholas could even get out of the car, Randy had opened the door and dragged him out. He grabbed Nicholas' collar and slammed him up against the car; Randy threw punch after punch to Nicholas' face. Liz screamed for Randy to stop.

"What are you doing, Randy?! Stop it! Leave him alone!" she yelled. It was no use; Randy kept at it. It took John and Cody to pull Randy away from Nicholas. Even still, Randy kept lunging towards the car designer. John and Cody's combined strength wasn't enough; Randy broke free and went to attack Nicholas yet again.

This time, Nicholas was prepared; he kicked Randy in the stomach to slow him down. Randy was like an animal; he wasn't even affected by the kick. He returned by smashing Nicholas' head into the car's driver side window; the glass shattered to the ground.

Liz screamed and covered her mouth. She tried to get Randy to stop yet again. "Please, Randy! Let him go! He didn't do anything!" she screamed at her best friend.

Randy seemed not to hear her at all; he continued the assault. He punched Nicholas across the face; sending him to the ground. Randy kicked and stomped him as he lay defenseless on the ground.

He took a break from destroying Nicholas to catch his breath; Liz saw the opportunity to save Nicholas from further attack. She stepped in front of Nicholas in an attempt to protect him, but it was a failed attempt. Randy pushed her out of the way; she fell to the ground and cried out in pain.

Punk ran to her side to check on her. "Are you okay, Lizzy?" he asked.

Liz winced as she raised her arm from the pavement. Shards of glass from the Potenza's window were lodged into her arm. While Randy continued the attack on Nicholas, Punk helped her to her feet. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up." He said.

She nodded and groaned as Punk lead her away. He grabbed a bottle of water and some napkins from the refreshments table before he took her to the Hummer where she sat on the passenger side while he fished out all the glass shards.

"So, uh, how have you been?" Punk asked in an effort to make conversation during the high stress situation.

Liz sighed. "I've been better," she said.

Punk laughed. "I bet. What has gotten into Randal?" he asked.

She chuckled at the use of Randy's name. "I really don't know. He has always been really protective of me, but he doesn't usually attack people like that. Even what he said to you yesterday was out of the ordinary for him," she said.

He shook his head. "Nah. Randal is always bitchy with me. I've gotten used to it, but I have never seen him so mad like that out there." He said referring to Randy's attack on Nicholas.

"Me, either," she said.

"This might sting a little," Punk said. Liz nodded and squeezed her eyes shut. Punk poured the water down her arm onto the wounds.

"Shit," Liz breathed.

"I told you it was going to hurt," Punk said with a chuckle.

Liz smiled through the pain. "No, you said it was going to sting. Big difference, Phil." She said.

He laughed. "Alright. It should heal in maybe 2 days," he said.

Liz nodded. "Thanks, Phil. I really appreciate it." She said.

Punk smiled. "You're welcome; it was no problem. You ready to go back to the show?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. I want to go home." She said.

"Um, okay. I'll get Randal to drive you back." He said.

"No. John has the keys." She said.

Punk nodded. "I'll go get John. I'll be right back," he said.

Liz nodded and watched him walk away.

After a few minutes, Punk returned with John and Cody in tow.

"You okay, Liz?" John asked.

Liz nodded. "I'm fine. I just want to go home." She said.

John nodded. "Would it be okay if we dropped you off, got our bags, and brought the car back here to Randy?" John asked.

Liz sighed. She knew that John and Cody were trying to avoid the impending fight between Randy and Liz that was sure to go down when they got together. "Yeah. That's fine." She said.

John and Cody said their goodbyes to Punk and got into the car; Liz stayed put in the passenger seat. The drive back to Liz's house was quiet. Everyone expected it to be quiet, so it wasn't at all awkward. When they arrived at Liz's house, John and Cody grabbed their bags and said goodbye to Liz before leaving.

Liz went up to her room and changed into comfortable lounge clothes after they left. She crawled into her bed and took a nap; she didn't want to be awake if Randy was to return anytime soon. Hours later, Liz was awakened by her growling stomach. She yawned and stretched as she checked her cell phone for the time. It was almost 3pm; she had slept for just about 3 hours. Also on her phone were missed calls and text messages from Randy.

**12:14 Missed Call-Randy **

**12:25 Randy—Where are you? **

**12:29 Randy—Call me. **

**1:11 Missed Call—Randy **

**1:14 Missed Call—Randy **

**1:48 Missed Call—Randy **

**2:02 Randy—I'm getting really worried. Please call me just to let me know you're okay. **

**2:16 Randy—I know you're mad, but please call me. **

**2:21 Randy—I'm on my way back to your place. Call me. **

That was the last of the messages and missed calls form Randy. Liz sighed and rolled out of bed in a rush to get to the kitchen and find something to eat. She first checked the garage to see if Randy had come back. She peered out the door and saw that the Hummer was indeed there. She sighed and returned to her previous agenda of finding food. She padded to the kitchen and saw Randy in the living room as she passed. She looked at him and said nothing. She pretended like he wasn't even there.

"Liz?" he called out.

She shook her head. "I don't want to talk to you," she said.

Randy got up from where he sat on the recliner and followed her to the kitchen. "I'm sorry, Liz. I really am. I just- I don't know. I just don't like you hanging around random guys like that," he said.

She sighed. "I don't care about what you did to Nicholas. It was wrong, but that's not why I'm upset," she said.

Randy frowned. "Then why didn't you return my calls and text messages?" he asked.

Liz raised her arm and showed Randy the marks from the glass shards. "You pushed me into the glass from the window, Randy. You have never been violent with me like that before. Not only that, but you didn't even care," she said teary-eyed.

"Oh, my god," he said under his breath upon seeing the angry cuts. "I am so sorry, Elizabeth. I had no idea that even happened," he apologized.

She shook her head and turned away from him. She prepared lunch for one and went to her room with the meal. Randy was left downstairs beating himself up for what he had done to Liz. He hadn't noticed that he had pushed her; he didn't remember it at all. Randy, himself, also got hungry; he looked around the kitchen and made himself a simple lunch. He sat at the kitchen bar and slowly ate.

Fifteen minutes later, Liz returned with her empty container. Randy only watched her; he figured she wouldn't want to hear anything he had to say. As Liz washed out her dishes, Randy eyed her body for the second time that day. Her wonderfully sculpted caramel legs seemed to go on for days under her black Nike shorts. Her round, plump bum was fitting perfectly inside the shorts; her curvy hips and thick thighs were intoxicating. Her tiny waist was the perfect pedestal for her well-endowed breast. Liz's pretty, curly hair was a now flowing; maybe even glowing. Randy couldn't tell.

Before Liz could notice that Randy was staring, he broke his concentration on her and looked elsewhere.

"Randy?" she called out from where she stood at the sink; now facing him.

He looked at her, ready to listen.

"Do you love me?" she asked quietly.

Randy choked on his food.

"Because if you do, you would the friend I need and stop being so controlling. I love you like the brother I never had. You mean a lot to me and I would hate to end our friendship all because you think that you have to protect me from every single person and thing. Not everyone is a threat to me. Take Phil for example. When my arm got shredded today, Phil took me back to the car and picked out every single piece of glass by hand. He cleaned out the scratches and everything. He's a really sweet guy. Did you ever think that he doesn't like you because you hate him for no reason at all?" she asked.

Randy remained silent and thought about what she said.

Liz continued. "Nicholas, the guy from the car show today, was being a regular 20-something year old. We were flirting. It's not like he kidnapped me. I willingly got into his car and we drove for maybe 10 minutes. He was a great guy. Then you attacked him. And for what? Tell me that. Tell me why you nearly killed him." She said.

Randy sighed. "I don't like seeing you with guys like that. You deserve someone better than some snot nosed car designer. You deserve someone like a doctor, or a lawyer, or business man who will be able to provide for you in the future. Punk and that other guy aren't good enough for my baby sis—" he trailed off when he realized what he was going to say next.

Liz gasped. She finally realized why Randy was being so extremely protective. "Randy, I'm not Becky. I'm not your little sister," she said.

Randy nodded and started to cry. "I think about her every day. I try so hard not to see her in you, but sometimes it just happens. It's like at one moment you're my baby sister, but at other moments you're you. I can't help but protect you from what happened to Becky." He said as he sobbed.

Liz went to him and hugged him tightly. "It's okay to miss her, Randy. I miss her too, but we have to find other outlets of grief. We have to move forward. I'm not saying we have to forget about her because she'll always be with us. We have to try to move forward." She said.

Randy wept as his chin rested on Liz's head. They stayed like that for nearly half an hour; just crying together and mourning the loss of a sister and a best friend. It may have happened 14 years ago, but the wounds were still fresh because of the constant reminders. Randy saw Becky when he looked at Liz and Liz saw Becky when she looked at Randy. They knew that the thought of Becky wouldn't just disappear; they didn't want it to. Liz and Randy just wanted to live a regular life without Becky's memory compromising everything they did.

When the hug was broken, Liz and Randy dried each other's tears. "I'm so sorry, Liz. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?" Randy said.

Liz smiled. "Of course, Sugar. I forgive you; I always have and I always will." She said. Randy smiled and hugged his best friend.

"I swear, I'd be set for life if I could find a girlfriend like you," he said.

Liz chuckled. "That girl is going to be hard to find, Sugar. I'm one of a kind." She said.

Randy chuckled. "Do you still need to go to the mall?" he asked.

"Dammit. I forgot about that. I guess I can go right now. You can come, too, if you want. That way we can have some Randy and Liz time," she said.

Randy smiled and nodded. "Sure." He said. Liz smiled and went upstairs to change.

**PLEASE REVIEW**

******A/N: I'm really heartbroken by the lack of reviews. At least one review would be nice. I love y'all and I really want to know if this story is crap or not. That's why I want y'all to review. Your input is crucial to me. Thanks. Please review.**


	4. Liz and Randy Time

**Chapter 4—Liz and Randy Time**

**[the next day]**

Randy groaned when he woke up. Liz had really put him to work the day before. He and she went to the mall; Liz originally said she only needed bras and panties, but she bought so much more. Randy ended up carrying it all. He didn't mind though; he saw it as an opportunity to spend some one on one time with his number one girl.

He checked the time and saw that it was a few minutes after 7am. He yawned and stretched as he rolled out of bed. Randy took a quick shower and put on a pair of basketball shorts and a plain white t-shirt. He assumed Liz was still sleeping and he was right. He heard her snoring as he passed her closed bedroom door. Randy just couldn't figure out how someone so petit could snore so loudly. He shrugged it off and went to the kitchen.

Since he and Liz had also gone to the grocery store the day before, there were more ingredients to work with for breakfast. Randy decided to make a breakfast casserole with crescent roll dough, sage sausage, cream cheese, and shredded cheese. He browned the sausage and mixed it with the cream cheese. He then lined a casserole dish with crescent roll dough. He poured the cream cheese sausage mixture onto the layer of dough and sprinkled shredded cheese on top. When the filling was covered with the shredded cheese, Randy topped it off with another layer of crescent roll dough. He put the casserole in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.

When the casserole was in the oven, Randy cleaned up the mess he made in the kitchen. He then set the kitchen bar with a plate each for him and Liz. There was still more than 10 minutes left on the oven so Randy decided to watch TV in the living room while he waited. As he walked to the living room, he crossed paths with Punk; he had just come from upstairs.

Randy balled his fists and Punk yelled for Liz.

"Lizzy!" Punk yelled.

"Randy! Chill. Nothing happened. He came over and we watched a movie. That's it. Nothing else." Liz explained.

Randy glared at Punk but looked back at Liz; he sighed. "Would you like to stay for breakfast, Punk?" he asked in a monotone, robotic voice as if he was being forced to do so.

Punk was confused; he turned to Liz. "Is he serious? I can't tell." He said.

Liz shrugged. "I don't know. Randy, are you really okay with Phil staying for breakfast?" she asked.

Randy took a deep, shaky breath. "Yes." He answered in almost a growl.

Liz smiled at Randy's progress. "Then, it's settled. You will stay for breakfast, won't you, Phil?" she asked.

Punk smiled and nodded. "Sure. What's did you cook for us, Randal?" he asked.

Randy looked to Liz as if he was asking permission to do bodily harm to Punk. She shook her head. He chuckled and sighed. "It's just something I put together." He answered politely.

Punk scoffed. "Oh great. We're all going to die." He said sarcastically.

"Phil. I think it will be easier for Randy to spare you if you would stop being so snarky." Liz advised.

Punk shook his head. "Nah, that won't help. He'll always be that way." He said.

Randy nodded. "It's true. We can never be friends because he calls me Randal," he said.

Liz smiled at the camaraderie; any situation between Punk and Randy that didn't involve threats was fantastic progress.

Randy went to the kitchen and set out another plate setting for Punk.

"So, what movie did you two watch last night?" Randy asked.

"Empire State. That movie about the bank security guard who's friend steals like millions of dollars. It's a true story and the police never even found the money." Punk said.

Randy nodded. Liz watched the two quietly with hopes of them being cordial. So far, all was well.

"Do you have any plans today, Lizzy?" Punk asked.

She shook her head. "No—" Randy interrupted her.

"Actually, I had a whole day planned for me and Liz." Randy said.

Liz smiled. "Really?" she asked.

Randy nodded. "Yeah. Like you said last night, we need some Randy and Liz time," he said.

Punk muttered something to himself; Liz chose to ignore it, but Randy didn't.

"You say something, Punk?" Randy asked with emphasis on _Punk_.

Punk shook his head. "Nope. Not a word, Randal. When's the food going to be ready?" he asked. Just then the oven's timer went off.

Randy left the bar to retrieve the casserole; he carried the hot dish to the bar and put it in the middle so that everyone could reach it.

Liz made the first cut. "Wow, Randy. This looks and smells delicious!" she said.

Randy smiled. "Thanks, Liz. I hope it tastes just as good."

Punk frowned. "There's meat in that?" he asked with a sour expression.

Randy nodded. "Yeah. It's sausage. Why?" he asked.

"I'm a vegetarian, Randal. You know that," Phil said.

Liz sighed. She knew Randy well enough to know what he comeback was going to be.

"Yeah, but I didn't know you were sleeping over and staying for breakfast." He said. It was exactly what Liz thought he was going to say. She shook her head.

Punk stood to leave. "Thanks for having me over last night, Lizzy. Whenever you're in Chicago, you can call and I'll clear my schedule if I'm not on the road." He said.

Liz nodded. "And if you're ever back in Mississippi, call me and we'll definitely hang out." She said.

Punk smiled. "You'll be at Raw tomorrow, though, right?" he asked.

She looked towards Randy and he nodded. She smiled. "Yep. I'll be there," she said.

"Awesome. I'll see then." He said as he hugged Liz and purposely messed up her hair.

"See you later, Phil," she said as Punk walked away.

Once Punk was gone, Liz turned her attention to Randy. She smiled brightly at him.

"Nope. Don't want to hear it," Randy said knowing exactly what Liz was thinking. She said it anyway.

"See? It _is_ possible for you to be nice to him! You did a good thing, Randy. I'm so proud of you!" she said as she beamed with pride.

Randy smiled. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's just eat," he said.

Liz nodded and took the first bite of her casserole. "Oh my god, Randy. This is amazing!" she said with her mouth full.

"I'm glad you like it. It's kind of me saying that I'm sorry for being a dick lately," he said.

She nodded. "In that case, I hear you loud and clear," she said. "So, what's the plan for today?" she asked.

"I can't tell you. It's a surprise," Randy said.

Liz frowned. "I don't like surprises, Randy." She said sternly.

He nodded. "I know, but you'll love this one. I promise. If you don't, I will never say another mean thing to Punk" he said.

Liz's eyes widened. "Wow. You're pretty confident in this surprise if you're willing to give up your mean streak on Phil." She said.

Randy nodded. "You'll love it. I swear." He said.

She nodded. "Okay. I believe you. Do I need to wear anything specific?' she asked.

He shook his head. "Nope. You can wear anything you want. You don't even need to bring anything. I mean, you can bring your cell phone and charger if you want, but you won't really need anything else except an empty suitcase which I already got for you," Randy said.

Liz nodded. She was a bit skeptical at what Randy had planned for them; she wasn't used to getting surprises so she hoped Randy wasn't planning some sort of prank.

When they finished breakfast, Randy took care of the dirty dishes and packed the leftover casserole into a storage container. Randy looked around the kitchen once it was cleaned just to be sure he didn't miss anything.

"Alright! Ready?" he asked Liz.

She shrugged. "I guess so." She said.

Randy smiled and lead Liz out the front door where a SUV was waiting for them. The driver stepped out and opened the door for Liz and Randy; Randy tipped him before getting in behind Liz.

"What is all this, Randy?" she asked.

"It's a surprise, Liz. Just sit back and relax." He said.

After an hour, Liz was getting more and more confused as to where Randy was taking her. "Where are we going Randy?" she asked.

"What part of surprise don't you understand? We'll be there soon." He said.

Liz shook her head. "You said that 35 minutes ago," she said.

Randy chuckled. "And I'll keep saying it until we get there," he said.

She groaned and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Another hour passed. "Seriously, Randy! What the hell is going on?" Liz asked.

He laughed. "Just trust me, Liz. I would never put you in harm's way on purpose," he said.

Liz glared at him for a while before she got sleepy. She decided to just lie down and wait it out.

Another hour passed and Randy woke Liz up from her nap. "We're here." Randy said.

She wiped her eyes and yawned. "We're here?" she asked.

Randy nodded. "Yep. We just pulled up. You want to go inside?" he asked.

Liz nodded and followed Randy out of the SUV. She expected to step onto asphalt or concrete; instead, it was sand.

"Randy? Where are we?" she asked as she looked around. She could tell that she was in front of a hotel, but she knew nothing else other than that.

He smiled. "We're in Biloxi for Raw tomorrow. We're going to spend all day on the beach," he said pointing towards the ocean.

Liz gasped. "Really?" she asked excitedly. "Wait. I don't have a swimsuit. Or sun block. Or tanning lotion. Or anything." She said sadly.

Randy smirked. "That's part of the surprise. I'm taking you out to pick out all of that stuff. Swimsuit, sunglasses, hats, and whatever else it is you women need for the beach." He said.

Liz grinned. "Oh my god, Randy! Thank you so much!" she squealed.

"No problem, Liz. Let's go find out where all the shops are before we get started," Randy suggested.

She nodded and followed Randy into the hotel.

Later that day, Randy and Liz got a map of all the malls and outlets in the area and they stopped by every single one of them in the SUV. Liz wasn't too picky about what she wanted. If she saw something she liked, she grabbed it knowing that price wasn't an issue with Randy.

After a few hours of shopping, Liz decided that she didn't need anything else.

Randy nodded and looked around. "Is there anything you want to before we head back to the hotel?" he asked.

Liz shrugged. "I think I got everything. Thank you so much for all of this," Randy smiled and nodded. They left the shop and slid into the SUV. Randy told the driver to go back to the hotel and the driver nodded.

When they got back to the hotel, Randy and Liz changed into the new swimwear Randy bought for them. Liz emerged from the bathroom in a turquoise cut out lace up one piece swimsuit. The sides were cut out but the back laced up like a shoe. She went to Randy to help her tie it up. He helped her with no complaints.

Liz then smoothed tanning lotion on her body and waited for Randy to be ready. When he was, they walked to the beach together. Liz laid out her towel and got comfortable on the towel before putting on her sunglasses.

Randy jumped into the ocean the first chance he got. Liz noticed the slew of women staring at him. She shook her head. _If only they knew…_ she thought to herself. _Had anyone somehow told me that he was borderline psychotic, I would have kept to myself more._

While Randy was in the water, a group of guys approached Liz. Randy kept an eye out for her, but he didn't charge at the guys like he usually would have.

"Well, hey, there, little lady," one of the young men said with a sultry southern drawl.

Liz sighed. "Not interested, fellas." Liz said with her eyes closed behind the sunglasses.

"Oh, come on, darlin'. Don't you need help putting on some tanning lotion or something?" one of the guys asked.

"Nope." Liz answered simply.

"Well, do you have a boyfriend?" another guy in the group asked.

Again, Liz gave a simple answer. "Nope."

The guys smiled, but Liz didn't see it. "Cool. Why don't you hang out with us tonight?" one of them asked.

Liz scoffed and pulled off her sunglasses; it was then that she saw Randy creeping up behind the group of guys. "Haven't I already told you that I'm not interested?" she asked.

"You're just playing hard to get, darlin'. You don't mean that; I know you want us," the supposed leader said.

She saw that Randy had gotten close enough to the guys to handle the situation for her, so she put her sunglasses back on and closed her eyes yet again.

The group of perverts turned around when Randy cleared his throat. "I could have sworn she said she's not interested." Randy said.

The guys laughed. "And who are you? Her dad?" one of them joked. The rest of the group laughed.

Randy laughed with them until he punched the so-called leader in the gut. He immediately fell to the ground. "She's not interested fellas. I suggest you walk away and never come anywhere near her," Randy said.

When the pack of young men were gone, Randy turned his attention to Liz.

"You okay?' Randy asked.

Liz nodded. "I'm fine." She said.

Randy smiled and nodded.

"Although," Liz started. "I am a bit hungry," she said.

Randy chuckled and sat next to her. "What would you like to eat, ma'am?" he asked.

Liz shrugged. "I don't know. How about we just go back to the hotel and order room service. We could probably watch a movie or something, too," Liz said.

Randy nodded. "That sounds like a lot of fun. I'm in!" he said. Liz smiled and stood from the towel. She shook the sand from it and folded it neatly. She put her sheer wrap around her waist and handed Randy the beach bag she got while shopping earlier. They made great conversation on the way back to the hotel. They were both enjoying what was becoming of Randy and Liz time.

Back at the hotel, Liz took a shower first to wash off all the sand. When she came out of the bathroom, her hair was in a wet bun and she wore pajama short and a tank top. Randy took his shower immediately after. While he was in the bathroom, Liz looked over the room service menu and ordered food for the both of them. Her friendship with Randy was so strong that she was able to pick out food for him and vice versa. Randy came out of the bathroom before room service showed up. Randy was only wearing a pair of basketball shorts.

"What movie are you thinking about watching?" Randy asked.

Liz shrugged. "I don't know. It's up to you," she said as she handed Randy the hotel TV remote control.

Randy browsed all the channels; he came across is own movie and grinned. "Perfect. I heard the leading actor is damn good looking," he said.

Liz scoffed. "You definitely heard it because you obviously didn't see it. He ain't all that hot." She joked.

"Whatever, Lizard. You're just jealous you can't have abs like these," he said as he flexed his abdominal muscles.

Liz chuckled at Randy's provoked arrogance.

Soon enough, the food from room service arrived. Randy let the hotel employee inside the room and let him set up the food onto a table. Randy tipped the employee before he could leave.

When the hotel employee left, Liz and Randy watched Randy's movie as they ate. Randy was way more into the movie than Liz was. Liz knew it was because she didn't really look at Randy like other women her age. Randy was just the best friend; she could never see him as anything more than a goofy older brother. She was just glad to have her Liz and Randy time.

**PLEASE REVIEW for a sneak peek at chapter 5**


	5. A Little Tiff

**Chapter 5—A Little Tiff**

**A/N: SURPRISE! ENJOY THE EARLY UPDATE! **

**[the next day]**

Liz and Randy were both getting dressed for the day. Randy had a few radio interviews so he decided that he was going to take Liz with him.

"Do you ever get nervous before radio interviews?" Liz asked Randy.

He nodded. "I get nervous about what kinds of question they're going to ask. They're supposed to talk about WWE, but they always end up asking me something either has too much to do with WWE backstage drama or they're into my own personal business." Randy explained.

Liz nodded. "I can understand that," she said.

Randy nodded. "Are you nervous about coming with me?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Not really. I've always been very likable." She said.

"So what if the interviewer starts asking you questions?" Randy asked.

"I don't know… I'll answer like a true Viper." She said.

Randy laughed. "That's my girl!" he said.

Liz laughed and continued pinning her hair.

Soon enough, Randy and Liz were ready to go. The car was waiting for them outside the hotel. In the SUV, Liz was constantly fixing her clothes.

"You look fine, Lizard. It's not like there will be cameras," Randy said.

Liz nodded. "Yeah, there will be. Do you have any idea how many of your radio interviews I have watched on YouTube? A lot." She said.

Randy shook his head and looked through the day's agenda on his phone.

Eventually, the SUV pulled up the radio station. Of course the driver stepped out and opened the door for Randy and Liz to get out.

Inside the radio studio, the DJs talked to Randy about what kinds of questions were going to be asked. He agreed to them and the radio show began.

**Good morning, Biloxi! We're here with The Viper Randy Orton!**

_Thanks for having me._

**Nah, man. Thanks for being here. So let's talk WWE! What can we expect from The Viper in the future?**

_Well, you can expect the real vintage Orton that Michael Cole is always screaming about._

Liz laughed at the comment. As an avid WWE fan who watched religiously, she was familiar with the reference. Whenever Randy did anything, Michael Cole, one of the ringside commentators, would call him "Vintage Orton" as if whatever it was Randy was doing was 20 or 30 years old.

**Nice, nice. We're all looking forward to that. Is there anything else you can tell us about that?**

_There's not really much to tell. That's all I've to say about it._

**Cool. So have you been keeping up with ****_Total Divas_****?**

Randy sighed. He knew where the question was leading. _Total Divas_ was a reality show that focused on the WWE Divas' personal life and business life. JoJo, the girl everyone assumes is dating Randy, is one of the Divas.

_No, not really. I don't watch it._

**Really? So what do you have to say about the rumors about you and JoJo?**

_I don't really even know JoJo. I met her maybe once in passing, but other than that, I haven't had any contact with her._

**What about your cute little friend here?**

_Who? Liz?_

**Liz? Is that your name?**

Oh. Yeah. That's me.

**So is there anything going on with you and The Viper?**

Liz laughed. No way. He's like a big brother to me. We're just friends.

The DJ hissed. **OUCH! Orton is in the friend zone. And with a girl like this, that's the last place I would ever want to be. I wish you listeners could see this girl; she's hot! Maybe we could exchange numbers and hang out later. **He winked at Liz.

Randy clenched his jaws repeatedly at the DJ's comments. Liz giggled and blushed.

**That looks to be all the time we've got left. It was nice talking to you for a little bit, Randy. You folks can see Randy tonight in Biloxi for Monday Night Raw Live! Tickets are still available. Get yours while you still can. Thanks again, Randy.**

_Yeah, no problem._

The "on air" sign turned off so Liz and Randy left and went to the arena to get ready for Raw.

In the SUV, Liz smirked at Randy.

He sighed. "What, Lizard?" he asked.

"Is there anything really going on between you and JoJo?" she asked.

Randy chuckled. "No. Nothing at all. I think that show puts ideas in peoples head. Nothing ever happened between us onscreen or offscreen," he said.

"I guess I believe you," Liz said. "So, what else are we doing today?" she asked.

Randy looked over the calendar on his phone. "All I have to do right now it get in a good workout. Other than that, I don't have anything planned. I guess I'll just relax before the show." He said.

Liz nodded. "I'm so excited for Raw! I need to go shopping for a dress or something if you have time." she said.

"Speaking of that, I need to buy your ticket," Randy said as he dialed a number on his phone.

Liz frowned. "I thought you already bought it," She said.

He shook his head. "I have to wait until the day of the show to reserve a ticket. If we could reserve seats beforehand, there would be no seats for other people." He said.

She nodded and waited for Randy to end his phone call.

"Bad news, Liz," he started. "All the seats are sold out," he said.

Liz got sad, but her sadness didn't last for long. "I could just hang out backstage with you," she said excitedly.

He frowned. "I don't want you back there; it's not safe," Randy said.

"What do you mean it isn't safe?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Randy sighed. "I don't want to get into this right now, Liz. Just forget it."

"No! Tell me why it's not safe!" She demanded even though she knew Randy's answer.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said.

Liz glared at him and crossed her arms. "Why can't you just be like a normal person? You need to be able to trust that I can take care of myself, Randy. I'm not a baby who needs your constant supervision." she said sadly.

"I'm sorry, Liz, but I can't just let you run around with those guys. They aren't good people." Randy said.

She scoffed. "They aren't bad people, either, Randy. Phil, John, and Cody will be around if you aren't. You can hire them as my fucking babysitters since you obviously don't think I can take care of myself." She said.

Randy sighed. He didn't want to start a big fight with Liz, but also wanted to get his point across. She's a beautiful young girl with a great personality who is irresistible to just about every man in her vicinity. Randy just didn't want Liz to get hurt. "You know what? Fine. You can come backstage under one condition," he said.

Liz waited to hear the stipulation.

"You have to stay in my locker room. You cannot leave unless I'm with you." he said.

Liz was shocked. "Are you really putting me on a leash, Randy? Really? You're going to lock me up in your locker room for three hours?" she asked angrily.

Randy groaned. "Forget it," he said through his teeth as he looked out the window.

Minutes later, the SUV pulled up to a gym. Randy opened the door to get out, but he stopped to hand Liz his credit card. "Have fun," he said.

Liz didn't take the card. Randy sighed. "Just take it Liz."

She narrowed her eyes at him. Randy closed the door back and clenched his jaw. "What's so wrong with me wanting to make sure you're safe? Huh? What's the problem?" he asked angrily.

"What's wrong is that you aren't making sure I'm safe! You're guarding me like I'm some sort of… thing!" she said.

He scoffed. "People guard items that are precious to them! They lock up their priceless jewelry, they put their trophies in glass cases with alarms, and they put cash in safes! If you think I'm "guarding an item", that's exactly what I'm doing! I'm protecting what is most important to me and I'm sorry if you have a problem with that!" He said angrily.

Liz was silent. "I never thought of it that way." She said quietly.

Randy nodded. "Now, will you please take this and have a good time?" he asked as he handed Liz the credit card again.

She nodded and took the card. "Thank you," she said.

Randy smiled and kissed her forehead. "You're welcome, Lizard," he said.

Liz smiled. "Love you, too, loser," she said.

Randy chuckled and got out of the car and went into the gym.

The SUV's drive looked at Liz through the rearview mirror. "Where to, Miss?" the driver asked.

"Nearest mall, please?" she asked.

The driver nodded and drove off. Liz started thinking of the type of outfit she wanted to buy. Minutes later, the SUV pulled up to the mall.

"Thank you so much, sir." Liz said. "Take my cell phone number just in case," she said.

The man nodded and they exchanged phone numbers.

"I don't know how long I'm going to be in there, but I'll call when I'm ready," Liz said.

The driver smiled and nodded.

Liz left the SUV and strolled into the mall. Her first stop was the food court; she knew she wouldn't be able to wait until Randy was done at the gym. She had to eat right then. She ordered her own food and ordered something for Randy to-go. She rolled the bag's opening neatly and put the bag into her large tote. Liz sat down with her own food and savored the taste; the breakfast sandwich was so much better than she expected. She sipped on her orange juice as she ate. Once she was satiated, Liz got a refill of her orange juice and went in search of her perfect outfit.

After looking for a few minutes, Liz found the Jessica Simpson section; Liz always loved Jessica Simpson's work: her music, her reality show, and especially her clothing line. Upon browsing, Liz found several dresses: a Long-Sleeve Illusion Lace Sheath, a Sleeveless Lace-Panel Body-Con, a Sleeveless Illusion Lace A-Line, and a Sleeveless Neon Colorblock Scuba Sheath. She carried the dresses in her arms as she looked for some shoes to match.

She found a tall wall full of Jessica Simpson shoes and Liz nearly fainted. She smiled brightly as she looked at each pair. After inspecting every pair, Liz decided on Maldwin Fringe Booties, Carrie Platform Pumps, Jasmint Platform Pumps, and Waleo Platform Pumps.

Just as Liz was trying to figure out how she was going to carry all of her finds as well as her orange juice, Randy showed up out of nowhere and took the dresses and shoes in his arms.

"Shit! You scared me," Liz said.

Randy chuckled. "Sorry. The driver said he tried calling you to tell you that he was leaving to pick me up from the gym," Randy said.

Liz nodded as she checked her phone. She saw that there were several missed calls from the SUV driver.

"So, is this it?" Randy asked Liz as he looked at all the stuff in his arms.

She thought for a moment. "Yeah. That's it; lets head to the check out." She said.

Randy nodded and followed Liz to the check-out counter. When they got there, Randy put all the dresses and shoes on the counter and greeted the middle-aged woman behind the counter.

"Hi. How are y'all?" the cashier asked with a sweet southern accent.

"We're pretty good. How are you?" Randy replied.

"I'm alright. Is this all for you?" the cashier asked.

Liz nodded. "Yes it is." She said.

"Alright the total is $1,038.74." the cashier said.

Randy took out his wallet only to remember that he had given Liz his credit card. When Liz gave him his card back, she took a sip of her orange juice and watched as Randy swiped it and put in his information.

"So, how long have y'all been dating?" the cashier asked.

Liz choked on the orange juice. "We aren't dating. We're just friends; I've known him my entire life, though." She said.

Randy forced out an uncomfortable laugh. "Yeah. We're just friends," he said quietly.

The cashier turned red with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry. But if there was a man who bought me designer clothes, I'd make him my boyfriend in a heartbeat." She said.

It was Liz's turn to force an uncomfortable laugh.

"Would you like your dresses in a hanging dress bag?" the cashier asked Liz.

She nodded. "Yes, please," she said.

The cashier neatly hung the dresses in individual bags as Randy and Liz stood there awkwardly.

"Here you go," the cashier started. "Have a great day." She said. Liz and Randy nodded as they left.

In the SUV, Randy and Liz sat quietly until Liz remembered she had food for Randy in her bag. "I bought you some breakfast from the food court," Liz said as she handed Randy the paper bag.

Randy offered a small smile. "Oh. Um, thanks," he said quietly.

Liz was a bit put off by Randy's suddenly quiet behavior. She could tell that there was something on his mind; probably the same something from the morning of the car show. She decided it would be best to ignore it, but when Randy's eyes started to water, Liz couldn't help but ask.

"You okay, Ran?' she asked sweetly.

He sniffled and quickly wiped his eyes. "Yeah," he said softly. Liz shook her head and moved to sit next to him. It was a weird feeling, but she wrapped her arms around him the best she could.

"No, Liz. I'm fine," Randy said as he squirmed away from her. She frowned in confusion.

"What's going on, Randy?" she asked out of concern.

"Nothing, Liz. Just drop it!" Randy yelled.

Liz shook her head. "I don't understand you! What the fuck could have happened in six months that changed you like this?" She asked.

Randy sighed. "Nothing happened and I haven't changed," he said hardly above a whisper.

"The hell you haven't! Before you left, you weren't like this; you've never been so tight lipped and quiet around me. Then after you got that big push, you suddenly have secrets. We have never kept secrets from each other!" Liz yelled.

Randy shook his head. "I know you're concerned, Liz; but I really don't want to talk about this right now,"

"So there _is _something bothering you," she said.

He nodded. "Yeah. I'll let you know when I'm ready to talk about it. Just chill out and back off about it until then. Please," he said practically begging.

Liz thought about it for a moment and nodded. "I'm not making any promises, but I'll try," she said.

Randy smiled softly. "Thanks," he said.

"Can I ask you something though?" she asked. He nodded.

"Is it my fault?" she asked quietly.

Randy's head shot up. He looked at her with gentle eyes. "Of course not, Elizabeth. This is all my fault," he said.

Liz nodded. "Can I ask you something else?" she asked. Randy waited to hear the question.

"Is it illegal?" she asked.

Randy looked down and didn't answer. Liz gasped softly and dropped the subject; if it was something that could get Randy into trouble, she didn't want to force him to talk about it. The topic was null and void to her from then on.

**PLEASE REVIEW for a sneak peek at chapter 6. **


	6. Job Offer

**Chapter 6—Job Offer**

**A/N: SURPRISE! (AGAIN, HA) I was in the mood to throw out another update. Review for a sneak peek at chapter 7! :)**

**[that night]**

Randy and Liz walked through the backstage area to Randy's locker room. Randy pretended he didn't see the way some of the other Superstars were ogling Liz. She was wearing the Sleeveless Illusion Lace A-Line dress and Carrie Platform Pumps Randy bought for her earlier that day. She had let her hair flow in its natural way; the long, kinky curls bounced as she strutted down through the hallways.

Before Randy and Liz could make it to the locker room, Liz was stopped.

"Hey, Lizzy!" they heard.

Liz smiled at the man who caught her attention. "Hey, Phil!" she said as she hugged him.

"You look amazing! Way better than most of these hookers who call themselves wrestlers," he said.

Liz giggled and blushed. "Thanks, Phil," she said. Randy was getting impatient; Liz looked at him with pleading eyes. "I'll be fine, Randy." She said.

Randy sighed and hugged her. "Be safe, Elizabeth," he said before kissing the top of her head.

She nodded. "I will," she said. She and Punk watched him walk off. Punk laughed.

"What's so funny," Liz asked.

"Your little guard dog doesn't like you hanging out with me, does he," Punk asked.

Liz shook her head. "It's not just you. It's everybody." She said. Punk nodded and walked around with Liz until they were interrupted by a stage hand.

"There you are! We've been looking all over for you! Stephanie and Hunter want you in their office right now! Come on!" the stagehand said as he dragged Liz by her hand. She was too confused to even ask what was going on.

She was practically pushed into the office where Stephanie and Hunter were standing. "Good, you're here. We hoped you would change your mind," Stephanie said.

Liz stammered. "I'm so confused." She said.

"Don't you remember? You emailed us and turned down the offer," Hunter said.

Liz shook her head. "I have no clue what you're talking about." She said.

"It's okay, Cassidy. We're willing to overlook your hesitance. We're just glad you decided to take the job." Stephanie said.

"My name isn't Cassidy," Liz said.

Stephanie looked through the file she held in her hands. "Right here, it says that you're Cassidy Somers. You just got out of hair and make-up, didn't you?" she said.

Liz shook her head. "Nope. I'm Elizabeth Caro. And I dressed myself and did my own hair and make up." She said.

Hunter frowned. "Then who are you and why are you here?" he asked.

"I'm Randy Orton's friend. He brought me with him tonight," she said.

Suddenly, Stephanie and Hunter's faces changed completely. Their expressions went from angry scowls to knowing smirks. Stephanie grinned. "So, you're the famous Liz we hear so much about!" she said.

Liz got nervous. "What? He talks about me?" she asked.

Stephanie's eyes went wide. "Forget I said anything," she said.

Hunter stepped in and diverged the topic. "So, apparently Cassidy really did turn down the job. We really need a backstage interviewer tonight. We would really appreciate it if you could step in." he said.

Liz thought about it; she figured Randy wouldn't mind. "Sure! What do I have to do?" she asked.

Stephanie smiled. "You'll just be interviewing the superstars and divas backstage like Renee Young used to do. She got a promotion and she's doing bigger and better things. You would be her replacement." She said.

Liz nodded. "That sounds great. Just lead the way and I'll do the best I can." She said.

Hunter's cell phone rang and he excused himself leaving Stephanie and Liz to talk about the show.

Later that night, Randy was sitting in his locker room lacing up his boots when he heard Liz on the monitor.

**Good evening, WWE Universe, I'm Liz Caro and I'll be filling in for Renee Young tonight. I'm here with CM Punk. So, CM Punk, how do you feel about your revenge on Paul Heyman last week on Raw?**

_You know what, Liz, it's like the weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Heyman got what was coming to him. And maybe if you play your cards right, you could get what's coming to you, too. _Punk winked and walked off.

**Well, then. Up next is CM Punk and Daniel Bryan versus The Shield.**

Randy clenched his jaws so hard that he got a cramp. He quickly finished lacing his boots and went in search of Liz. When he found her, one of stage hands was giving her a rundown of the other interviews she was going to be doing that night. Randy ignored the stage hand and tore into Liz.

"What the fuck was that?" he asked.

Liz was surprised that Randy was angry. "Stephanie and Hunter needed a last minute replacement. They thought I was some other girl, but I told them who I was and they offered me the position," she explained innocently.

Another stage hand walked up. "You're on in 20, Orton," he said. Randy nodded and turned back to Liz. "We aren't done talking about this." He said.

Liz rolled her eyes. "You say that like it's up for discussion. What if they have offered me the permanent position? What if I have already accepted? I'm a grown woman, Randy. You really need to get that through your thick skull." she said.

Before Randy could say anything, Liz had already walked away. He stormed to Stephanie and Hunter's office; he didn't even knock.

"This thing with Liz better not be permanent!" he barked upon entrance.

Stephanie frowned. "I thought you would be happy about it,"

"What makes you think I would be happy?!" he asked.

She shrugged. "I mean, you kept talking about how much you missed spending time with her," Stephanie said.

Randy shook his head. "That didn't mean that I wanted her here!" he said.

Hunter had an epiphany. "Why not?" he asked before jumping to conclusions.

"Because— I don't know! Just because," he said.

Hunter chuckled and shook his head. "You can either do something about it, or you need to let her go," he said. "But you can't just be a dictator over her life and expect her to do everything you say."

Randy sighed and left the office.

Stephanie stood there in confusion. "What was that?" she asked her husband.

Hunter shook his head. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it," he said.

She nodded and dropped the subject.

Liz was in the middle of another interview when Randy went to the curtain to wait for his entrance. He watched her intently as she interviewed Wade Barrett. Wade was the one Superstar Randy didn't want Liz to ever meet. She looked so… happy with him. Randy sighed and cleared his mind for his match.

Hours later, Randy was looking for Liz so that they could leave the arena since the show was over; he couldn't find her anywhere. He tried calling her cell, but there was no answer. Just before Randy was going to physically tear the area apart looking for her, Liz sent him a text message.

**10:27pm Lizard **going out. don't wait up. ttyl

Randy called her immediately.

_Hello? _It was Wade.

Randy clenched his jaws. **Give Liz the phone.**

_She's a bit preoccupied at the moment. Can I take a message?_

Randy could practically hear the smug expression on Wade's face. **Preoccupied with what, exactly?**

_Settle down, Randal. She went to the bathroom. She just came out. _Wade spoke directly to Liz. "Your owner called," he said as he handed Liz her cell phone.

_What do you want, Randy? _She asked irritably.

**Where are you and why are you with Wade?**

_Well, father, I am back at the hotel because Wade wanted to take me out for a drink but—_

Randy interrupted her. **You're not old enough to drink! What the fuck is wrong with you?**

_Wade wanted to take me out for a drink but I told him I'm not legally able to drink._

**… oh. Well then what are you doing?**

_Does it even matter, Randy? You're just going to tell me not to do whatever it is I'm doing. Then you're going to tell me that Wade is evil and that I wouldn't be around him. After that, I'm going to tell you to mind your own business and leave me alone. Then you're going to apologize and tell me how grown up I am, how responsible I am, and how much you trust that I'll make good decisions. Then I'll forgive you and we'll be best friends forever. There; I just saved us a whole hour of bullshit. I'll be back before you leave in the morning. Bye._

Randy just held the phone even after Liz hung up on him. Eventually, he sighed and went out to the car. "Back to the hotel," Randy said simply as he got situated in the SUV. The driver nodded and pulled off.

[the next day]

Liz and Randy were riding quietly in the SUV on their way to the airport. They had just had their last squabble.

A few hours earlier, Randy woke up in the hotel room and immediately searched for Liz since she didn't ever return to the hotel room she was sharing with Randy. The second bed was empty and it didn't look to have been slept in. Randy checked his phone and didn't see any missed calls or text messages from Liz. He called her, but she didn't answer. He even resorted to calling Wade; he didn't answer either.

Out of sheer concern, Randy went in search of Liz. As soon as he opened the hotel door, Liz was about to swipe her key card. Randy let out a sigh of relief. Liz squeezed by him without saying a word. Randy noticed that she had changed clothes and he got a whiff of what he assumed to be Wade's personal man stink.

"Where were you?" Randy asked. Liz didn't answer; she just gathered some supplies for a shower and disappeared into the bathroom. When she came out 30 minutes later, Randy was still there; he was sitting on one of the queen sized beds with his back against the headboard. "Are you doing to tell me where you were last night?" he asked.

Liz scoffed. "Obviously not," she said under her breath.

"And why not? What happened to us not keeping secrets?" Randy asked.

"Really? You won't tell me why you've turned into a raging asshole, but you want me to tell you about last night?" she asked rhetorically.

"Did you fuck him?" Randy asked blatantly.

Liz glared at him; she was beyond pissed off by the accusation. Randy immediately knew he made a mistake in asking because Liz had never been the kind of girl to have promiscuous sex.

"You know what, Randy? Let's say I did. Let's say that me and Wade got all tangled up in his sheets while he fucked me all night long; hypothetically, of course. If that happened, how long would it take for you to make me wear some kind of GPS monitor?" She asked as she threw her belongings into her suitcase.

Randy shook his head. "I'm sorry for asking. The thought should have never crossed my mind," he said sympathetically.

"NO, Randy! NO! Stop apologizing for doing the same thing over and over again. When a person apologizes, it means that they won't do whatever they're apologizing for again." She said. "And for the record, I didn't sleep with Wade last night. We watched a movie and fell asleep." She said.

Randy frowned. "But why did you change clothes?" he asked.

"Wade offered me one of his shirts to sleep in so I wouldn't have to sleep in my dress," she answered.

"Oh," he said. He felt like an ass for assuming the worst.

Liz sighed. "I accepted the backstage interviewing job, Randy." She said.

Randy nodded. "I know. Congratulations."

"I checked and we have the exact same travel schedule. That means we'll be together all the time," she said. Randy nodded as she continued. "The thing is, Randy, I don't think we can be friends anymore." Liz said softly.

"Why not?" Randy asked.

"Because. Because I can't risk your overprotective attitude ruining my opportunities in this business." She said.

Randy remained quiet; he was recapping his actions over the last few days only to realize that he had lost his best friend all because he was trying to protect her.

Liz didn't say anything more, either. Once she was fully packed and ready to go, she waited quietly for Randy to take a shower and pack his belongings so that they could leave for the airport.

Now, as the SUV rolls on, Liz is sending text messages to Wade, and Randy is falling asleep. Soon enough, the SUV pulled up to the airport. Liz and Randy grabbed their bags and walked in silence through the airport. As expected, there were fans waiting for Randy. He was relieved to see that he had a temporary distraction from Liz. As he was preparing to sighed autographs, the fans started yelling for Liz.

"Liz! Can I have your autograph?" a young man asked. Liz smiled and signed the small notebook the boy had. She signed several other items as she walked through the airport. She was really starting to understand what it meant to become famous overnight.

After Randy and Liz went through bag checks and security, they waited at the gate for their flight to be called. Liz sat away from Randy because she was waiting for Wade; they decided to meet up and talk before the flight.

Randy watched as Liz's face lit up when she saw Wade. He was too distracted to notice that John and Cody had sat next to him. He turned away when he saw Wade kiss Liz's lips passionately. That was when he noticed his friends next to him.

"You alright, Randy?" Cody asked.

Randy nodded. "I'm fine. What's going on with you two?" he asked in an attempt to take the focus off of him. Until the flight was called, Randy held a conversation with John and Cody.

As everyone boarded the plane, Randy sat alone only to realize that Liz was supposed to sit in the seat next to him. It was going to give him an opportunity to change Liz's mind about their friendship. As he was mentally reviewing everything he was going to say, Justin Gabriel sat next to him.

"Hey, Orton. Liz asked to switch seats. I hope you don't mind," he said.

Randy looked around and saw that Liz and Wade were sitting together. He sighed and shook his head. "I don't mind," he said.

Truthfully, Randy was excited that Liz had gotten the job; he knew that she had always loved WWE and everything related to it. He just hated that their friendship had to be compromised for it to happen.

The flight to Orlando, Florida, was only a few hours. The Superstars and Divas were ecstatic to be back in Florida mainly because most of them lived in the surrounding cities of Tampa and Miami. Randy was one of the few who had planned to check into a hotel.

The superstars and divas stepped off the plane and grabbed their bags from baggage claim. Most of them only had to call a taxi to take them to their own homes. Randy caught a glimpse of Liz getting into a taxi with Wade. He tried to look at the bright side. "At least I'll have the hotel room to myself." He said under his breath.

**[the next day]**

Randy walked into the performance center for his training session and saw Liz stretching. He sighed and swallowed his pride before he approached her.

"Hey, Lizard," Randy said softly.

Liz sighed and looked at him for a moment. "Hey," she said eventually. She turned back to her own business as Randy just stood there.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

"I really don't feel like talking to you right now, Randy. I just don't know what to expect from you. You could either be really kind or really mean and I don't feel like seeing either side of you at this point," she said.

Randy nodded. "I understand that, Liz, but I really need to talk to you."

"You don't need my permission to talk, Randy. Just open your mouth and let the words come out. It's easy, really," she said as she walked away to the treadmills. Randy followed her and watched as she started a jog. "Well?" she asked.

"This is really hard for me, but here it goes. I'm sorry for the way I've been acting lately. I know you don't want to hear any more apologies, but this is the last one. I just can't handle you hanging out with these guys because…" he trailed off.

"Because what?" Liz asked.

Randy took a deep breath. "Because I'm in love with you." he said with his eyes closed.

Liz tripped over her feet at the confession and fell off the treadmill. Randy tried to help her up, but Liz pushed him away. "Don't touch me!" she screeched. She stood up and dusted herself off and briskly walked away. Everyone in the performance center looked at Randy after Liz's outburst. Randy sighed and walked away; he was intercepted by Cody.

"What was that about?" Cody asked.

Randy shook his head. "Nothing. Just leave me alone," he said.

"But, we need to go over the match for tonight," Cody said.

"Fine. Give me 15 minutes," Randy said as he walked away.

**PLEASE REVIEW for a sneak peek at chapter 7. **


	7. Avoiding Randy

**Chapter 7—Avoiding Randy**

**A/N: Merry Christmas! Enjoy this early update! Please review for a sneak peek at chapter 8! **

**[one month later]**

Ever since Randy confessed his love to Liz, he hadn't seen her. Sure, they had been working together; but it seemed like Liz was making an effort to avoid Randy. Her relationship with Wade had taken off and they had been seeing each other for the last few weeks.

The WWE took a whole week off of touring just to focus on conditioning and storylines before getting back on the road. Randy walked into the performance center in Florida and saw a group of the other superstars gathered together watching something. His curiosity took over and he went to see what the commotion was. As he peered through the crowd, he saw Liz teaching The Funkadactyls some new dance moves. She winded her hips and shimmied her bosoms before twerking.

As long as Randy had been around her, he had never seen Liz move the way she was moving. He shook his head in disgust and walked away. John saw the look on Randy's face.

"You alright, Orton?" John asked.

Randy nodded. "I'm cool," he said.

"Want to talk about it?" John asked as he followed Randy to the locker room.

Randy sighed and sat on a bench. "I told Liz that I'm in love with her," he said.

John smiled. "It's about time!" he said excitedly. "The guys and I knew you had a thing for her. When did you tell her?" he asked.

Randy sighed. "A couple weeks back," he said.

John frowned a bit. "What did she say?" he asked.

"She ran away," Randy answered quietly.

"Don't worry, man. She'll open up to you eventually," John reassured him.

Randy shook his head. "No, she literally ran away. Out the door," Randy explained.

"Oh." John said awkwardly. "Listen, it'll be okay, Randy. She'll still need you as a friend so don't give up on her. Just know that there isn't a chance that you'll actually be with her the way you want to be with her. All you can do is be there for her if or when she needs you." the older man suggested.

Randy nodded. "Thanks, man."

John shook his hand. "No problem,"

When the Funkadactyls learned the dance moves, Liz when to shower and change clothes for her meeting with Stephanie and Hunter. In the locker room, she ran into John's girlfriend, who was also her new best friend, Nicole.

"Hey, Liz! I didn't know you had moves like that," she said as she mimicked the sexy dances.

Liz laughed. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Nicole," she said as she searched her bag for some clothes to change into after the shower she was planning to take.

"Oh really? Like that Randy finally confessed his love to you?" she asked with a kissy face.

Liz quickly looked up at Nicole. "How do you know about that?" she demanded to know.

"John told me. He said he saw Randy was looking a little sad so my superman went to talk to him," she started. "John said that he is a mess but Randy won't admit it. You should give him a chance, Liz," Nicole suggested.

Liz sighed and shook her head. "I can't even count the number of reasons why that's a bad idea," she said.

"He's sweet, he obviously loves you, you've known him since the beginning of time so you know what you're walking into with him, and it doesn't hurt that he can take care of you financially. Bonus: he's fucking hot. I swear, if I wasn't already with John…"

Liz shot her a look that could kill.

"See? You like him a little bit, Liz. If you didn't, you would be looking at me like you want to kill me. Just admit it," she said.

Liz sighed and sat on a bench; Nicole joined her. "I'm scared," Liz said quietly.

Nicole frowned. "Scared of what?" she asked.

"I'm scared that I won't be enough for him. He's been with some of the most beautiful women in the world. I'm not nearly as good as them. I'm just the kid who lived next door," she said.

Nicole sighed. "You don't see how much Randy loves you, girl. He stares at you for no reason at all. It's almost disgusting how cute it is. I wish John could feel the same way about me; Randy looks at you like you're his whole world. I don't even have that glimmer of hope with John. He's already made it clear to me that we're never getting married and never having children. I think you should at least think about those possibilities you could have with Randy instead of shooting him down," she said.

Liz shook her head. "You don't get it, Nicole. Randy and I have known each other for a long time. I know him way too well to even think that I could ever be his main priority. For as long as I've known him, he has never only had one girl. He's always had at least one side chick. I can't go through that with him. Plus, Wade and I are together." she said. Before Nicole could say anything more, Liz had already stood to leave.

She went to the shower and turned the water on as hot as it could get. Liz eased under the steaming hot spray and relaxed. Thoughts of a possible relationship with Randy flooded her mind as she lathered her body with pomegranate body wash. She had to admit, she liked the way Randy looked at her. She had noticed it, but she had also dismissed any ideas of him being attracted to her. She had always been the little fluffy haired little girl who lived next door. Liz could never see herself as anything more than that to Randy.

When she heard more divas coming into the room, she rinsed off the suds and shut the water off. She dried off and wrapped the towel around her body and went back to the locker room. She was met by Eva Marie, another rookie.

"Hey, Liz!" she said.

She smiled lazily. "Hey, girl," Liz said softly.

"So, um, I hear that you turned down the one and only Randy Orton," Eva Marie said as she sat and watched Liz sort out her clothes.

Liz sighed. "Yeah. Word spreads quickly around here, huh?" she asked.

Eva nodded. "Yep. Anyway, I was wondering if it would be alright with you if I took a shot at Randy," she said.

Liz looked at her. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Eva shrugged. "I mean, he's obviously single and I'm single, too. I wanted to ask you first because you're like his best friend and stuff." She said.

Liz thought to herself. It was that exact moment when she realized that she wouldn't always have Randy to herself. He never brought his girlfriends around her in the past. Liz had always assumed it was because they didn't last long; but she realized that it was so that she would never see him with another girl. It would have ruined the perception of his best friend being the number one girl in his life.

Liz shook her head. "I don't think that's such a good idea," she said.

Eva frowned. "Why not?" she asked.

Liz sighed as she used an extra towel to dry her hair. The soft, brown fluff bounced gently to her shoulders. "Randy has a type, Eva. And I don't mean to be mean, but you are definitely _not_ his type. You're the exact opposite of what he looks for," she explained.

The redhead scoffed. "If you want him for yourself, just say so. You don't have to be a bitch about it," she said.

Liz chuckled dryly. "I could have sworn that I just said that I wasn't trying to be mean," she said under her breath, but loud enough for Eva to hear. "I'm not saying you shouldn't ask him out at all, I'm just saying that you shouldn't ask him out if you don't want to get your feelings hurt," she said.

Eva smirked. "I'll just take the chance," she said.

"Yeah. You do that. Let me know how gently he lets you down," Liz said as Eva walked away.

When Liz was alone again, she took the towel off her body and smoothed lotion on her skin. She pulled on her bra and panties then stepped into a pair of Nike running shorts before putting on a plain pink t-shirt. She sat on the bench and pulled her socks and sneakers.

Liz checked herself over before going to her meeting with Stephanie and Hunter.

"Hey, Liz. Thank you for coming." Stephanie said with a smile.

Liz smiled in return. "It's not a problem, Steph. What's up?" she asked.

"Well," Hunter started. "We thought it would be a good idea to get you some in-ring training. Ya know, teach you how to wrestle," he said.

Liz's eyes widened. "Really?" she asked surprised.

Stephanie nodded. "Really. You look like you could have a lot of potential. What do you say?" she asked.

Liz thought for a moment and nodded. "I would love to! Thank you so much for the opportunity." She said.

Hunter smiled. "Perfect. We already asked Tyson Kidd if he would be willing to help you out." he said.

Liz shook her head. "No. I want to talk to Nattie first. I don't want to get all close to her husband like that without her permission," she said.

"You're right. What were we thinking?" Stephanie said. "We'll look into getting you someone else to train with." She said.

Just then, the office's door flew open. An angry Dolph Ziggler stormed in. "I'm sick and tired of not being on the card! I work too damn hard in this company to be ignored! I demand a push!" he yelled.

Stephanie and Hunter smirked at each other. "Tell you what, Dolph," Stephanie started. "If you can train Liz and get her shaped up for the divas division, there will definitely be a title shot in your future," She said.

Dolph smirked. "That's it? I just have to train her and I'll have a title shot?" he asked for clarity.

Stephanie and Hunter nodded.

"Good. Let's go, Lilly." Dolph said.

"It's Liz," Liz corrected him.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's go." he said with impatience.

During their first training session, Dolph and Liz learned a lot about each other. They had a lot in common and their interests brought them closer. They were pals before the day was over.

"So," Dolph started as they sat exhausted in the ring after Liz's first training session. "Tell me more about yourself," he said.

Liz thought as she crossed her legs under her body. She shrugged. "There's not really much to tell," she said.

Dolph chuckled. "How about you start with your hometown?" he said.

She nodded. "St. Louis," she said simply.

He nodded. "Orton is from there," he pointed out.

Liz laughed. "I know. I grew up next door to him and his family. His sister and I were best friends," she said.

He frowned. "Then why won't he train you?" he asked. He shook his head when he realized how harsh the question sounded. "It's not that I don't want to train you, it's just that he seems like a better option than me since you know him so well," he said.

She nodded. "I get it; no harm done. Randy didn't want me to have a job backstage let alone have me wrestling in the ring. He's totally against all of this, but what can I say? I'm not a kid anymore," she said.

Dolph nodded. "So what do you do for fun?" he asked. "Wait. Let me guess. You like to shop?" he asked.

Liz laughed out loud. "How did you know?" she asked.

"I've seen you around, Liz. You never have to go to wardrobe to get fitted for clothes like Renee used to do. You always bring you own clothes," he said.

"Wow. I would call you a stalker if I didn't know any better," she said jokingly.

Dolph smirked. "Nah. I'm no stalker. I'm just observant," he said.

"Yeah, I've noticed," she said as she uncrossed her legs and laid on her back.

Dolph mimicked the position next to Liz. "Do you play any sports?" he asked.

Liz chuckled. "Something tells me that you already know the answer to that question," she said.

He laughed. "Cheerleading is definitely a sport," he said.

Liz laughed and looked over at Dolph. "How do you know so much about me?" she asked quietly.

He shrugged. "Pre-law in college. I learned a lot about finding out _things_ about people," he said.

"Wow. He's gorgeous and smart," she said seductively yet jokingly.

"Plus," Dolph added, "an ass that great doesn't just come out of nowhere," he said lazily.

"I don't think my boyfriend would like to hear you talking to me like that, Mr. Pre-Law," she said.

Dolph laughed. "Eh, I can take him," he said thinking of Wade.

"Elizabeth!" they heard a Brit yell in a sing-song voice.

Liz turned her head to find where the voice was coming from. It was Wade; he got into the ring and leaned against the ropes as he waited for Liz to stand.

"Speak of the devil…" Dolph breathed.

When she was on her own two feet, she bounced over to Wade and kissed him deeply.

"You look amazing, today, darling," Wade said.

Liz smiled. "Thank you. You don't look too bad either. I like my men sweaty," she said with a wink.

He laughed. "I was thinking that I could take you out tonight to one of my favorite restaurants. Nothing big, just a nice romantic night for the two of us," he said.

Liz smiled and nodded. "I would love that," she said.

Wade smiled. "Good. Let's get out of here," he said.

Liz waved goodbye to Dolph. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?" she asked the platinum blond who was now standing.

Dolph nodded. "Bright and early," he said.

**PLEASE REVIEW for a sneak peek at chapter 8**


	8. Trouble With Wade

**Chapter 8—Trouble with Wade**

**A/N: WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE**

*****the next morning*

_Liz was getting dressed for another date with Wade. She dressed in a pink and nude bodycon dress, black platform heels, and jewelry. She let her curly hair down and double checked her make up. _

_"You ready, love?" Wade asked. Liz smiled and nodded. _

…and that's all Liz could remember. She laid alone in the unfamiliar room. She knew she was sharing the room with Wade once she realized she was at Wade's house but he was nowhere to be found. Liz tried to sit up, but she winced in pain and out of instinct she drew her hand to her abdomen. It was tender to the touch. She sat up slowly and carefully; every part of her body hurt. Liz shuffled to the full-body mirror and gasped when she saw all the angry blue and black marks that stared back at her. Her eyes filled with tears as more memories slowly came back to her in bits and pieces.

_"You look nice tonight," Wade said as he sat across the table from Liz in the five-star restaurant. _

_"Thanks, babe," Liz said with a smile. _

_Wade smirked and licked his lips. "I can't wait to get you back home," he said seductively. _

_Liz sighed. "Actually, we need to talk about that." She said softly. _

_"About what?" Wade asked. _

_She paused. "Wade, I don't know how to put this delicately, but I can't have sex with you." she said. _

_Wade frowned. "Why not?" he asked. _

_"I want my first time to be with my husband. My last boyfriend had a problem with it and he broke up with me because of it. So, if you don't think you'll be able to wait with me, you need to tell me now." She explained. _

_He thought for a minute. "I'd wait forever and a day for you, love," he said. _

_Liz smiled. "Thank you." she said with a bright smile. _

The ringing cell phone distracted Liz. She saw it was Randy calling, but she didn't answer; she let it go to voicemail. Liz decided that she needed a shower, so she staggered towards the bathroom and turned on the water. When the spray was warm enough, Liz stepped under it. She yelped; the warm water stung the scratches and cuts on her body. Eventually she was comfortable enough to relax; the warm, liquid massage cleared Liz's mind enough to allow the previous night's events to flood her memory.

_"Come on, babe. I can make you feel real good." Wade purred as he crawled up the bed and hovered over Liz as she was lying on her back. _

_Liz struggled to push Wade off of her. "No, Wade! I had a good time at dinner, but I just want to go to change clothes and go to sleep right now,"_

_Wade didn't stop. He reached under Liz's dress and tried to pull down her panties. _

Liz started to cry from the horrifying memory. She sighed and wrapped up her shower. When she stepped out, she examined her body yet again. Blotches of blue, black, purple, and yellow danced across her smooth skin.

_She kicked Wade away and tried to run. Before she could get far, Wade grabbed her wrist and threw her on the bed again. He held her hands over her head with one of his own hands as the other hand struggled with the belt of his pants. Liz used her free legs to kick at Wade, but it wasn't working. Wade tore her dress in an attempt to pull it off. _

_Liz kicked again and finally hit her target. Instead of deterring Wade, the kick intensified his rampage. He struck her across the face; Liz cried out in pain as she wiggled away. She tripped over Wade's discarded shirt and fell on her face. While she was on the floor, Wade stomped her and kicked her midsection. Liz wailed loudly until Wade stopped. _

_He grabbed her by her throat and squeezed until Liz's face was blue. When he released her, he balled up his fist and punched her in the face; it left her with a black eye. Liz attempted to fight back, but Wade was too quick. He grabbed her hair and dragged her back to the floor. _

_"Ha. The only thing you had going was your pretty little face. Now that you've got that nasty shiner, your value has gone down a bit." Wade said bitterly. He kicked her once again and spat on her. "You should go get cleaned up; you're filthy." He said. _

Liz sighed and wrapped a towel around her body. When she stepped out of the bathroom, she saw Wade had just walked in. She gasped softly. When Wade saw her, he frowned. "Oh my goodness, darling. What happened? Who did this to you?" he asked in a concerned panic as he looked at the bruises that marked Liz's exposed skin.

She frowned. "You did this to me, Wade. You beat me until I couldn't move," she said angrily.

Wade shook his head and covered his mouth. "I don't believe it. I must have been drunk, love. I would never do something like that on purpose. I love you too much to lay a hand on you," he said as if he had rehearsed the lines in front of a mirror.

Liz just stood there in confusion. Wade slowly walked up to her and hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry, love. It won't happen again," he said in a prepared tone as he gently stroked her back and head simultaneously.

She sighed and returned the hug. "It's okay. I forgive you." she said.

"Thank you, darling. I don't know what got into me."

Liz sighed and broke the hug. "We need to get ready," she said quietly. There was no real work today; it was a day for everybody in WWE to get in a good workout or rest. Liz had a training session with Dolph at the performance center.

Wade offered a small smile and nodded. Liz winced and hissed softly with every move she made. Her muscles were sore and every time she moved, there was a stinging pain. Wade watched in what could be mistaken for sympathy; he secretly admired his handiwork. He took a deep breath and when about his business.

Later that morning, Liz sat in an ice bath prepared by WWE's doctor. It worked wonders; all of her soreness was gone after half an hour in the bath. When she was done, she dressed in some yoga pants, a razorback tank top, and a tight lightweight zip up workout jacket. She met Dolph in one of the practice rings.

"You're late," he said as she stepped into the ring.

Liz nodded. "I know. Sorry about that. I uh—lost track of time," she lied.

"You ready?" Dolph asked. Liz nodded.

"Alright," Dolph said as he bounced in the ring a bit. "Lock up!" he said.

Liz did what she was told. "Go behind then freestyle!" Dolph instructed. Liz did the go behind but Dolph caught her off guard when he forced her into a forward roll. She yelped as she landed on the mat as Dolph covered her for a pin. She whimpered in pain at the landing. Dolph jumped up and tried to help her up.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm fine."

As Dolph pulled her up, part of Liz's jacket sleeve retreated and showed the now bright purple mark on her wrist.

"Woah. I'm so sorry, Liz. I didn't mean to hurt you," Dolph said as he eyed the bruise.

Liz quickly covered the discoloration. "No, it's okay. It's not your fault." She said quickly.

Dolph eyed her. "Did Randy do that?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. It's nothing; don't worry about it," she said quietly.

He sighed. "If Randy is hurting you, it's okay to tell me," Dolph said.

Liz nodded. "I know. But he isn't hurting me," she said. "Can we just focus on my training?" she asked with agitation.

Dolph looked at her and could tell that there was something she was holding back. "We can get back to your training on one condition." He said.

She sighed. "What is it?" she asked.

"You have to promise me that you would tell someone if Randy is hurting you," he said.

Liz chuckled dryly. "I promise you that Randy isn't hurting me. I haven't spoken to him in weeks. I swear," she said. "But if he was hurting me, I promise that I would tell someone." Liz continued.

Dolph nodded and accepted the vow. "Alight. Since you're so okay. Run the ropes," he said.

She hesitated and took off in a sprint to run the ropes. Before she reached the ropes, Dolph stopped her. He gave her a sympathetic look and hugged her. Liz couldn't be strong anymore; she broke down in Dolph's arms.

"He—he hurt me. He said it was a mistake; that he was drunk. But I'm scared," she sobbed.

Dolph sighed. "Who, Liz? Who are you afraid of?" he asked.

Liz didn't answer him; she just continued to cry.

Dolph clenched his jaw; he had a few run-ins with Randy in the past and he couldn't wait to get his hands on him. "Be safe, Liz. Take the rest of the day to rest," he said.

Liz nodded and carefully left the ring. She made her way to the showers and turned on the hot water. While the water warmed up, Liz stripped out of her clothes. She flinched as the hot water made contact with her sore body. When she was done with the shower, she dried off and pulled on some loose fitting clothes that were comfortable enough in which to travel.

Outside the performance center, Liz hailed a cab and eased inside. She told the driver her destination and sat quietly during the car ride. When the cab pulled up to the hotel where the few superstars and divas who didn't live in near Orlando were staying, Liz paid the driver and got out. "Thank you." she said softly.

Liz slowly walked up to the counter and requested a single room. She paid for the room and accepted the key the clerk handed her. She thanked the older man and went to the elevator. The elevator took her up to her floor where she saw Randy leaving a hotel room. Liz took a deep breath and tried to ignore him.

"Hey, Lizard," Randy said when he saw the young girl.

Liz offered a small wave and kept her focus on her destination. Randy sighed and followed her. "Can we please talk, Liz?" he asked as he followed Liz to her room.

She sighed and paused for a moment. "I don't want to talk right now, Randy. Some other time, maybe," she said quietly. Randy frowned; he realized that Liz wasn't being herself. He noticed that there was something bothering her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She averted her gaze to the floor. "I'm fine," she said.

"Is there any way that we could just hang out? We don't have to talk about what I said. Could we just hanging out like we used to?" Randy asked with hope.

Liz shook her head. "No. I gotta go." She said as she turned to leave. Randy was left in the hallway, confused as ever. He shook his head and pressed the elevator button. All the time he waited, Randy couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that had settled upon him. He had a feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He checked for his phone and room key; when they were both accounted for, Randy discarded the feeling and went about his business.

In the hotel room, Liz put her bags down and immediately fell into the bed. The king sized bed wasn't too soft or too hard. It was perfect for Liz's tired and aching body. She ended up falling asleep there for a few hours.

Before Randy could even get settled in the gym, Dolph and ambushed him with a punch to the face.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Randy asked angrily.

"What's _your_ problem? You took a shot to your ego when Liz turned you down so you had to put your hands on her!" Dolph yelled.

Randy frowned. "I never hit Liz. What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I saw her bruises, Orton! You did a number on her! I can't believe she hasn't called the police on you yet." Dolph said.

"I already told you, Ziggler. I never even touched her. She hasn't spoken to me in weeks. Besides just now. I saw her at the hotel and she didn't even want to talk then. So I don't know what you're talking about." Randy said.

Dolph raised an eyebrow and studied Randy's face as if he was looking for a lie. If that's what Dolph was looking for, there wasn't one. Randy was telling the truth.

"Well she's terrified of whoever banged her up. She wouldn't even tell me who it is." Dolph said.

Randy shook his head. "She would have told me if something like that was happening. She wouldn't keep that from me."

"Dude! I saw her. She was all bruised up and in pain. Something is going down and she's not telling anybody about it. Probably because whoever it is has threatened her or something," Dolph said.

Randy nodded and thought for a moment. "She's still going out with Wade. Maybe it's him." He suggested.

Dolph nodded. "I'll go find out," he said.

Randy stopped him. "No. Don't go up to him like that. If it _is _him, he's going to go after Liz," he said.

"No he won't. He doesn't even have to know Liz told me. Well, she didn't tell me. I'll just tell him I found out on my own. I'll talk to you later, dude." With at, Dolph was gone before Randy could even attempt to change Dolph's mind. He shook his head and thought about Liz and how hurt she must be. He hated that he didn't know something this serious was going on with her. He felt like a terrible friend.

Liz was awakened by someone yanking her up by her hair.

"Are you trying to upset me, darling? You better have a damn good reason for trashing my name and embarrassing me, bitch," Wade said angrily as he threw Liz to the floor. "You told that pretty boy, Ziggler, that I was hurting you," Wade said.

Liz whimpered and tried to explain herself, "I—I didn't tell him…", but she was interrupted.

"Then you tried to leave me. How do you think all that makes me feel, love?" Wade asked rhetorically.

"I'm sorry, Wade. Please don't hit me," she begged.

Wade furrowed his brow. "Hit you?" he asked. "You mean like this?" Wade drew his hand back and slapped her across the face as hard as he could.

"or do you mean like this?" he drew back his hand and back handed the young woman.

Liz screamed and attempted to fight back. The attempted failed because Wade only got angrier. He clenched his fists and hit her like he was back in his bare knuckle fighting days.

She kept apologizing for whatever it is she did wrong. It was no use, because Wade didn't let up. Liz resorted to begging. "Please, Wade! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to; I'm so sorry. Please, stop!" she pleaded desperately.

As Wade continued the assault, Liz had started to think of ways to get out of the violent situation. She eyed the lamp on a nearby side table and grabbed it. Liz hit Wade over the head with the lamp as hard as she could; he fell to floor unconscious. While Wade was knocked out, Liz ran out of the hotel room. She didn't want to go to Randy's room, so she went to Phil. She banged on his door but there was no answer. Just as she was about to walk away, the door opened.

"Please help me, Phil," she said out of breath. Punk was shocked by what he saw standing before him. The once vibrant, cheerful woman was now a beaten, sorrowful woman. He nodded at Liz's request and showed her inside.

Liz was about to tell Punk what happened when she saw AJ Lee laying in one of the two beds in the room. "Oh. I didn't know you had company, Phil. I'll leave if—" Liz started to say, but Punk interrupted her.

"No. Stay," he turned his attention to AJ. "AJ? Could you leave for the night? I'll call you tomorrow," he said.

AJ nodded and stood to leave. "I'll see you later," she said as she left.

Once AJ was gone, Punk sat down on one of the beds with Liz. "What happened to you, Lizzy?" he asked angrily yet concerned.

Liz had planned on telling Punk the truth, but she saw the anger behind Punk's eyes. She knew he would go after Wade if he knew the truth. Instead, she lied. "Bar fight," she said softly.

Punk eyed her and sighed. "Yeah. That's why I don't go out to those places," he said.

Liz was relieved that Punk bought the lie; at least it seemed as if he believed her. He looked over her slightly swollen face. "Let me get you some ice. I'll be back," Punk said as he left the room.

Just then, Liz got a text message.

**5:28pm Randy—We really need to talk. It's important. Call me ASAP.**

Liz sighed and ignored the message. She just waited for Punk to return with the ice. Before he could come back, Liz got another text message. It was Randy again.

**5:30pm Randy—Stop ignoring me! This is important. We need to talk. No excuses. Call me right now! **

Liz groaned and gave in. She called Randy and listened to the line ring.

_Hey, Liz. Meet me in my hotel room in 10 minutes. _

**For what? **

_You know what for, Liz. Don't play dumb. We need to talk about what's going on with you and Wade. _

**What are you talking about?**

Randy sighed. _I know about the abuse. _

Liz paused for a moment. **What abuse? **

_Listen. I know you're scared, but I can help you if you let me. You know I'm always going to be around if you need me._

**I know. But I'm okay. There's nothing going on. I'll talk to you later. **

_No! We need to talk now! _

Liz hung up and sighed. Just as she ended the call, Punk walked back into the room with plastic storage bag filled with ice. He covered the bag in a fluffy towel and gave it to Liz to put on the areas of her swollen face.

"Thanks, Phil, but I need to go," Liz said once she got the ice.

Punk frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked.

She took a deep breath. "I'm just going to get some rest. Thank you for your help. I'll see you around," she said as she quickly walked out.

Punk was left just as confused as Randy had been earlier that day.

When Liz walked out of Punk's hotel room, she was intercepted by Randy.

"Please talk to me, Liz. I can help you!" Randy pled.

Liz didn't say anything; she just walked past him. Randy quickly grabbed her forearm tenderly to stop her. She cried out in pain and quickly tried to pull her arm away from Randy's gentle grasp. Randy didn't let her arm go. Instead, he gently rolled up the sleeves of her hoodie to reveal old, yellow bruises and fresh black, blue, and purple bruises.

Randy's eyes widened in shock. "Motherfucker. I'll kill him," he said through his teeth.

While he was distracted, Liz pulled her arm away and rolled her sleeve back down.

"Did Wade do that to you?" Randy asked.

Liz was quiet; she kept her eyes on the floor.

"Answer me, Elizabeth!" Randy shouted.

"Shhh! No. It's just ring bruises. I'll be fine," she said with a harsh whisper as she glanced at the hotel room where she left Wade unconscious.

Randy noticed her line of vision. "Is he in there?" he asked angrily.

"Yes, but it's okay, Randy."

"No, it's not, Liz! I'm going to go in there and kick his ass. Let's see how he likes it." Randy said as he charged towards the hotel room.

"No, Randy! Don't provoke him. Just let me handle it. I can take care of it." Liz begged.

Randy looked at her with sorrowful eyes and sighed. "Promise me, Liz. Promise me that you will handle him," Randy said.

Liz nodded. "I promise," She said.

He sighed and hugged her as tightly as he could without hurting her. "I meant what I said, Liz. I love you so much. I want you to be happy and safe even if you aren't with me. As long as you're happy and safe, I'm okay with us not being together," he said.

Liz didn't say anything. She just broke the hug and walked away.

**PLEASE REVIEW for a sneak peek at chapter 9**

**A/N: Thank y'all for reading. I'm assuming you like the story, but I can't be sure if you don't review. **


	9. Improvement?

**Chapter 9—Improvement? **

**A/N: WARNING: this chapter contains domestic violence. **

**[two months later]**

Dolph was awakened by shrieking coming from the other room in the hotel suite. He looked at the clock on the bedside table and saw it was nearly 4am. He got out of bed, grabbed his phone that sat on the bedside table, and followed the screaming. He opened the door and saw Liz thrashing about on the hotel's bed; she was having another nightmare.

He sighed sadly and went to the bed and slipped into it with her and held her until she calmed down. She and Dolph had been spending extended amounts of time together outside of her training sessions. They clicked as friends; Liz was so grateful to have him in her life. As she stilled and drifted off into a deep sleep, Dolph tried for the umpteenth time to figure out what had Liz so rattled lately.

According to Liz, she had broken everything off with Wade. She wouldn't tell Dolph how; all she told him was that things had changed. Things had definitely changed; she was losing a drastic amount of weight and her wardrobe consisted of much less fabric than usual.

Wade hadn't contacted her in a few weeks and that was all that mattered but Liz started having terrible nightmares after the break up. When Liz first left Wade, Dolph insisted that he be her protector of sorts. At first, Liz blew him off as if the idea was a joke. When she started getting paranoid, she agreed to have Dolph as her shadow. The process was working well so far: on off days, Liz and Dolph had a system where they would be in contact every fifteen minutes. Sure it was tedious, but it kept her safe. Liz stayed with Dolph on working days; today was one of those days.

Dolph had been surprised that the Liz wasn't opposed to the fifteen minute calls and text messages. Randy didn't go that far when they were on speaking terms, but Liz was always upset with him for being as protective as he was. Dolph assumed it was because, with Randy, there was no actual threat. Now that Wade has come and gone, Liz was much more fearful; and rightfully so. After a while, Dolph fell asleep as he held her.

Almost three hours later, Liz whimpered in her sleep and mumbled pleas; it woke Dolph from his sleep. He couldn't understand most of it but he heard five words clearly and he finally knew exactly what had Liz spooked. He felt a tugging at his heart; the man felt bad for her. She was in so much pain and she hadn't shared the pain with anyone. The poor girl was taking on so much by herself; it was a miracle that she wasn't worse than she was at that moment.

As Dolph thought more on the subject, Liz jumped and gasped from her sleep and quickly sat up. She was panting as if she had been struggled into breathe. When she realized she was in the hotel with Dolph, she calmed down.

Dolph took a deep breath. "You had another nightmare," he said.

Liz sighed and lean up against the head board. She rubbed her swollen eyes.

"Is there anything you want to talk to me about, Liz?" Dolph asked and he looked at his hands that now rested in his lap.

She shook her head. "No," she murmured.

Dolph sighed and looked at Liz. There was so much horror behind her hazel eyes. "I know what happened, Liz," he said.

She frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said.

He turned to sit directly in front of her. He took her hands in his own. "You were talking in your sleep. I heard what you said in the nightmare before you woke up," he said. He didn't want to repeat the words because he could only imagine how bad she felt about it.

Liz gasped slightly and hung her head. "People have bad dreams all the time. It doesn't mean anything," she said quietly.

He took a moment to find out how to better assess the situation. "You haven't sent me out to the drug store for your, um—" he motioned towards her crotch, "in a while, Liz. Something's wrong," he said.

She sighed. "I'm fine, Dolph. Just leave me along. It's normal for women my age under stress to miss a period," she said as she tried to get out of the bed.

Dolph pulled her back. "Just promise me that you will let me know if you start to feel bad," he said.

Liz nodded. "I will, Dolph. I promise." She said.

Dolph let her go and sighed. He watched her go into the bathroom and listened to the shower's water as it ran. He tried to think of the best way to tread around Liz and her condition. He was so deep in thought that the thirty minutes Liz used in the bathroom seemed to fly by.

When she emerged, she was wrapped in a towel; so was her hair.

"Since when are you an expert on women's health, anyway?" she asked randomly as she towel dried her hair.

Dolph shrugged as he looked at their work schedule on his phone. "I've had my fair share of encounters with women," he said.

Liz chuckled and nodded. "Oh yeah. I forgot how smooth you are with some of the ladies," she said.

Dolph's head shot up from his phone. "What do you mean _some_ of the ladies," he asked.

Liz shrugged. "I haven't fallen under the spell that is Dolph Ziggler. Who knows how many other women are immune to that jawline of yours?" she asked rhetorically.

He chuckled. "Well, you've had a taste of Orton, so that automatically puts me out of the running with you," he said.

Liz frowned as she continued to dry her hair. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "I haven't had 'a taste' of Randy," she said using air quotes when she put the hair towel down.

"Really?" Dolph asked surprised.

"Really, Dolph. We've always just been friends. Why does everyone assume that we were sleeping together?" she asked.

"You and him were always cozy and tight lipped about what was going on between you two," he said.

Liz nodded. "Yeah, but that was because Randy didn't want me getting close to any of y'all," she said.

Dolph nodded. "And why do you think that is?" he asked with a knowing smirk.

"Can we not talk about that? You know why," she said.

He laughed. "I know why; but do _you_ know why?" he asked cynically.

She sighed. "I know you know I know that I know,"

Dolph squinted at the complex statement and shook his head. "Whatever. You ready for the show tonight?" he asked. She smirked; she was proud of her attempt to get Dolph to change the subject.

It Liz's first night to be in the ring. She wasn't wrestling, but she was valeting Dolph for a match. "I guess," she said.

"Don't be nervous, Liz. You're going to do great. You had the best teacher, after all," he gloated.

Liz rolled her eyes. "Why don't you go take a shower and take care of your, ahem, problem," she said as she moved her eyes to the bulge in Dolph's shorts.

"I'll be thinking of you," he said jokingly as he left the room to return to his own space to take a shower.

Liz chuckled. "Yeah. You do that," she said with a platonic wink.

"I have one question, though," Dolph said as he double backed into the room.

"What now?" she asked pretending to be annoyed.

Dolph took a deep breath and tried to brace himself for the answer to the question he was about to ask. "How is everything between you and Randy?" he asked cautiously.

She sighed. "I haven't seen him in almost two months. Why?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. You just seem a little lost without him, I guess," he said. Dolph was secretly surprised at how calm Liz was on the topic of her and Randy's last encounter.

"Honestly… I am lost without him. I just wish I would have let him get to Wade. If he did…" she sighed. "I miss Randy. I really do, but I can't just ignore everything that happened. How would it look if I just popped up after a couple of months and said I wanted to be with him?" she asked.

Dolph smirked. "So you _do_ want him! I knew it!" he said as if he had solved a criminal case.

Liz chuckled. "I never denied it," she said.

"Then why didn't you—" Liz interrupted him.

"Jump his bones when he said he loves me?"

Dolph nodded.

She sighed. "I don't know. I feel like I should have done that in the first place, but I was so wrapped up in Wade. I thought he was _the one_, but I was wrong," she said sadly as she thought about the violence that stomped though the relationship.

Dolph didn't know what to say, so he just listened.

"I mean, how can I go out with Randy now that…" she trailed off.

He frowned. "Now that what?" he asked.

Liz shook her head. "Nothing. Never mind." She said.

"Does it have anything to do with your nightmares?" he asked.

She bit her lip to contain the tears that threatened to stain her face. When her attempt failed, she looked to the floor to hide the tears that escaped. Dolph walked towards her but she waved him off. "I'm okay," she said.

He sighed. "No, you're not Liz," he said as he pulled her into a hug. She held him tightly and cried. She had given up on trying to pretend she was okay. The pain was too deep for her to ignore; her bruises may fade, but the pain her abuser caused will always be there. Sometimes, it could be invisible, but it would always make itself known to Liz and that's what hurt her the most. There was no point in her hiding what happened anymore; Dolph already knew.

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked sympathetically.

She sniffled but still clung to him. "No," she said quietly.

"At least let me buy you a—"

"No, Dolph," she said as she pulled herself from his arms.

He sighed at her stubbornness. "Maybe you could go see Doc tonight?" he suggested.

She shook her head. "I'll be okay eventually," she said.

Dolph shook his head, but accepted her answer. He had determined that Liz either already knew or she pretended that it wasn't true, but he knew full well what was happening. He wanted to respect whatever it was Liz was thinking, but it was hard for him.

"You should at least press charges, Liz," he said; he was almost begging.

Liz sighed. "What if—"

"It doesn't matter, Liz. What he did was against the law; you deserve so much better than that!" Dolph said sternly.

She nodded. "I know, but it's my word against his. Nothing good will ever come of it," she said quietly. Liz had truthfully thought about pressing charges, but she had been convinced that Wade would get away with it.

Dolph offered a comforting smile anyway. "You can come to me if you ever need anything, Liz, you know that," he said.

She nodded and dried the tears on her face.

She sighed once Dolph was gone. It was hard for her to trust what Dolph said. Randy once said the same thing but when she went to Randy for help, it always spiraled out of control. Liz knew that both Randy and Dolph meant well, but she was skeptical if anyone was really looking out for what was best for her. She tried to figure out how she ever learn to trust anyone ever again, but she was stumped.

Liz knew something wasn't right, but she had already chosen to ignore it. She pushed the thought from her mind and took off the towel she had wrapped around her body. As she stood in front of the full length mirror provided by the hotel, Liz looked over her body.

Most of her bruises had faded, but the most recent ones on her lower abdomen, upper thighs, and inner thighs were still noticeable. She ran her fingers over the blemishes and recalled the last time she saw Wade.

**[flashback] **

_Liz was in the master bedroom of Wade's house, which she had moved into with hopes of Wade being less abusive, trying on the potential outfits she would be wearing for a taping of Smackdown while Wade sat on the king sized bed. She had just pulled on an A line royal blue and black striped cut out dress with mesh inset. Wade had been watching a movie but when the movie went off, he noticed Liz trying on the dress. _

_"What the fuck is that you have on?" he asked. _

_Liz smoothed out the front of the dress and twirled playfully. "It's a new dress," she said. _

_Wade raised an eyebrow. "New? When did you get it?" he asked. _

_She thought back to when she bought the dress. "Last week. Some friends and I went shopping and I saw this dress; I had to have it," she said. _

_"I don't remember seeing that on my bank statement," he said. _

_Liz looked towards the floor. She knew where this was heading. _

_"I'm sorry, Wade. I used my own money; I didn't have your card on me. I wanted this dress so badly. Please don't be mad," she begged. _

_Wade thought for a moment while he walked around Liz to examine the dress. He had already been upset by the cut out with mesh inset across her back, but he really got upset when he saw that there was also a huge cut out with the same mesh inset on her bust. _

_"So where do you plan on wearing this so called dress?" he asked. _

_"It's not definite, but I was thinking about wearing it for Smackdown tonight," she said. _

_Wade frowned. "Really? Did it ever occur to you that I don't want you to wear that?" he asked slightly upset. _

_"No, but I was going to ask you when I picked an outfit," she said hoping he wouldn't be angry. _

_He nodded. "I'm sure you would have," he said with a smirk. "but I'm going to save you some time," he said as he further examined Liz in the dress. "You'd have to lose at least fifty pounds to look good in this dress. Look at you! Your stomach is poking out, your ass is making the back of the dress higher than the front, your legs look fucking terrible, and your arms are flabby. You'll never make it look good. Nicole, on the other hand could do something with it," he said as he adjusted his package thinking about Nikki Bella._

_Liz sighed. "I think I look just fine," she said innocently. _

_Suddenly, Wade charged at her. He grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the full length mirror. It shattered. _

_"You look like shit, darling. You won't be wearing this dress tonight. Nor will you ever wear it," he said right before ripping the fabric as he tore the dress from her body. Liz was gasping for air in her bra and panties as Wade looked over her newly clad body. _

_Wade smirked. "Did you know you could burn up to 1500 calories just by having sex?" he asked. _

_Liz shook her head since she couldn't speak due to Wade's hand constricting her airway. _

_"ANSWER ME, BITCH!" he yelled in her face. _

_"N-No," she struggled to say. _

_He grinned evilly. "Let's find out," he said before forcing himself on her. _

_She shook her head vigorously and pleaded with as much effort as she could muster up. "Please! I'm still a virgin!" she pled tearfully._

Liz didn't realize it, but was crying into her hands after recalling the last terrible encounter with Wade that was causing her nightmares. She saw her reflection and she hit the mirror over and over again until it cracked and cut her hands. Liz slid down the wall and cried into her bleeding hands. She jumped when Dolph knocked on the door.

"Liz? Are you okay?" he asked through the door.

She wiped her face with the palms of her hands. She shook the thoughts from her head and sighed. Liz composed herself before answering. "I'm fine," she said though her emotions.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Dolph's voice was full of concern.

"Yeah. I'm just getting ready. I'll be out soon," she said.

Dolph sighed. "Alright, but I don't think you should be doing any intense training today," he said.

"Okay. That's fine," she said.

She didn't hear Dolph again so she assumed that he had left the suite. She stood up and got dressed for the day. She dressed in lounge clothes that consisted of Nike shorts and a t-shirt. Liz made herself some breakfast and lounged around the suite until Dolph got back from the gym.

When he showed up, they went over the plans for his match on Raw. Once everything was covered, they each got ready for the show.

**[Raw]**

When they arrived at the arena, Dolph and Liz went in search of their dressing rooms. Punk was the first person she saw. Liz quickly plastered on a fake smile as if everything was okay to hide the hurt.

"Phil!" she said excitedly. She hugged the tattooed superstar. "It's so good to see you!" she exclaimed.

He laughed. "It's good to see you, too, Lizzy. How've you been?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I've been better, I guess," she said.

He nodded. "I get it. You hungry? We could go get something to eat from catering," he suggested.

Liz shook her head. "I gotta go. I'm the valet for Dolph's match; it's first, so I have to go get ready," she said.

"No problem. Maybe some other time," Punk said.

Liz nodded and smiled before walking away.

Dolph's match was going as planned. Liz was cheering for him outside the ring until she got dizzy and fainted. Dolph noticed, and immediately went to check on her. The referee counted all the way to ten before calling for the bell. When Dolph felt her pulse was shallow, he carried Liz in his arms to the trainers' room.

When he got there, the trainers asked what happened.

"I don't know. I was in the middle of my match and she just passed out," he explained.

The doctor nodded. "Okay. You can wait outside while I run some tests," he said.

Dolph looked concerned and nervous.

"She'll be fine. Just let me do my job," the doctor said.

Dolph nodded and left. When he was outside the door, Dolph saw Randy.

"What happened out there?" Randy asked. He saw Liz pass out while he was watching on one of the monitors backstage.

Dolph shrugged. "I don't know. Doc just put me out. He said she's going to be fine, though," he said.

Randy nodded. "Probably dehydration," he said.

Dolph sighed and hoped Randy was right.

Eventually, Liz emerged from the trainers' room. She looked a bit lost, but still responsive. She was crying heavily as if she had just gotten some terrible news.

"What did he say?" Dolph and Randy asked simultaneously.

Liz didn't answer, she just pushed past her friends. She went to the locker room and took a shower. Dolph and Randy were left in the hallway full of confusion. Randy went back to the Doc to find out what was going on.

"Is Liz okay, Doc?" he asked.

The doctor sighed. "She's not injured or anything if that's what you're asking. You'll have to ask her about anything else," he said.

Randy frowned and left. _What the hell does that mean? _ He thought.

**PLEASE REVIEW for a sneak peek at chapter 10.**


	10. The Arrest: Part I

**Chapter 10—The Arrest: Part I**

**A/N: I loved Old School Raw so much that I decided to update early! Thanks for reading. Please review. **

**[one month later]**

Liz and Randy had mended their friendship. They had been apart, however, for a couple of months. Liz had started wrestling on NXT while Randy kept up his schedule on the main roster. He had become WWE champion, so his schedule was always full. Today, Randy and Liz had a chance to meet up at the airport for a pay-per-view in St. Louis: their hometown. They had planned to go to lunch and spend a few days together before the show.

Liz had yet to share with Dolph and Randy what the doctor told her at Raw a month earlier. She was secretly hoping Randy would have forgotten about it by now.

Randy was hanging out near the gate Liz told him she would be coming from. When he saw the plane's passengers walking through, he perked up and looked for Liz. When the TSA agent closed the gate, Randy frowned. He pulled out his phone to call Liz. As he dialed the number, he faintly heard "Voices" playing as a ring tone.

He looked around and saw a slightly chubby girl answering the phone; then he heard Liz's voice on the other end.

_Hello?_

**Uh, Liz? **

_Randy! Where are you? _

**Turn around. **He prayed and hoped the girl wouldn't turn around. Much to his dismay, she did. The girl grinned and hung up the phone before running into Randy's arms.

"Randy! I missed you!" she said as she hugged Randy tightly.

"Liz?" Randy questioned.

"What?" she asked as she broke the hug.

Randy frowned and looked her over; she had gained at least 30 pounds.

"You look, uh—different," he said.

"Yeah. Let's head out of here," she said avoiding the conversation.

Randy nodded and led the way to baggage claim so Liz could get her luggage. When her bags were retrieved Randy hailed them a cab to his house. When the cab pulled up to the familiar home, Randy paid the driver and grabbed his bags from the trunk.

Liz tried to get her bags, too but she struggled to lift them; they were too heavy. "Could you help me, Randy?" she asked.

Randy smiled and nodded. "Sure." He said. In the back of his mind, he was confused as to why Liz needed help. She had always been perfectly capable of carrying her own luggage, no matter how heavy. Nonetheless, Randy arranged the luggage so he could carry both their loads.

"Reach in my pocket and get the keys," Randy said.

Without hesitation, Liz reached into his pocket to retrieve the keys.

"Whoa!" Randy jerked away when Liz accidentally touched his manhood through the fabric.

"I'm so sorry," Liz said as she laughed nervously.

"Trust me… you don't need to apologize," he said with a smirk.

Liz tried for the keys a second time; this time, she was more careful. Randy chuckled when the keys slipped from his pocket. Liz shook her head and led Randy to the front door so she could unlock it.

She struggled with the keys; she couldn't figure out which key for was for the door.

"Which key is it, Ran?" she asked as she tried each key. Liz had always been a frequent guest but she never had to use a key, so she didn't know which key unlocked the door.

He snorted. "It's the _big_ one," he said.

Liz rolled her eyes at the sly sexual innuendo. She tried one of the bigger keys; it worked. She pushed the door open and held it open so Randy could carry the luggage inside.

Randy walked towards the stairs that led to the second floor. "Could you sort through the food in the kitchen? If it's bad, throw it out. Then make a list so we can do some shopping," he said.

Liz nodded and got to work. She threw out the spoiled and rotten foods and made a grocery list of food that she and Randy would pick up from the store later. When she was done, she went upstairs in search of her bags but she couldn't find them anywhere. She heard Randy moving around in the master bedroom so she opened the closed door but she was bombarded with the site of a very naked Randy Orton walking around the room.

She shrieked and quickly closed the door back.

"Give me a second, Liz," Randy said on the other side of the door. No more than a minute later, Randy opened the door. This time, he had a towel wrapped around the lower half of his body.

"I was about to take a shower, Lizard. What was so important that you just had to see me in my birthday suit?" Randy asked jokingly.

Liz couldn't even look Randy in the eye; she kept her head down. "I was just looking for my bags," she said quietly.

Randy nodded and turned away. While his back was turned, Liz looked up and admired his body and the way his muscles rolled beneath his skin. His back rippled as he bent over to pick up the bags. His biceps flexed and his chest tightened as he carried the luggage. Liz couldn't help but lick her lips. She had never realized how attractive Randy was until just then.

"Th—thanks," she stuttered when Randy handed her the luggage. Instead of leaving, Liz continued to stand there and stare at Randy's naked body. His skin glowed; his sleeves of tattoos sensually marked his smooth skin; his defined abs cut his stomach. Liz only prayed that the towel wrapped around his waist would fall to the floor so she could get another glimpse of the man flesh that hung thick and long along his ample thighs.

Randy flexed his pecks as Liz stared. Out of pure shock and lust, she accidentally dropped the bags and moaned softly. Randy smirked and grabbed Liz by her hips and slowly pulled her into his body. Liz let her hands roam Randy's torso. She liked the way his warm skin felt under her quivering hands. Randy's hands practically floated up Liz's sides until they reached her cheeks where cupped her face in his hands. He leaned in slowly and gently kissed her lips.

Randy moved his hands to squeeze Liz's full ass; it prompted her to deepen the kiss. He easily lifted her and carried her to his bed. He hovered over her and gently planted kisses on the spot where handprint bruise used to be on her neck. He fidgeted with the hem of her shirt and started to pull it over her head. Liz stopped him quickly and pulled her shirt back down; it was too late, though because Randy already saw what she was hiding.

She pulled Randy's face back to her lips and kissed him passionately. So passionately that Randy was shocked; nonetheless, he returned the kiss. He wanted to go further, but he knew how important Liz's virginity was to her. He pulled away from her and rolled onto his back. He pulled her close and enveloped her in his arms. Liz cuddled up close to Randy and kissed his chest. She giggled as he lightly tickled her side. He pulled her hair back and kissed her forehead.

"Can I ask you something, Liz?" Randy asked.

She nodded. "Mmhm. What's up?"

Randy took a deep breath. "What happened with Wade?" he asked.

Liz shook her head and stood from the bed; she started walking away, but Randy pulled her back down to the bed.

"Let me rephrase that. You look different since I last saw you. What inspired the change?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I thought it was time to switch things up," she said quietly.

Randy nodded. "Is everything okay with Wade?" he asked blatantly. He didn't know that they had broken up.

"I don't want to do this right now, Randy," Liz said.

"It's a simple question, Liz. I haven't been on your back about this for months. I just want to make sure you're okay because the last time I had a conversation with you, you were as skinny as a bean pole; and before that, your lip was busted and half your face was swollen." Randy said with a tense tone.

Liz nodded. "I know. I figured if I changed what drew him to me in the first place, he would break up with me. So I tried to lose weight, changed my hair color, and started wearing different clothes," she explained.

Randy thought for a moment. "Did it work?" he asked.

Liz sighed. "Kind of."

He frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well," she started. "The first thing I did was dye my hair. He didn't like it so he punished me for it," She said.

Randy knew exactly what she meant by Wade's punishment. He took a detour from asking to save himself from getting angry. "What else?" he asked.

"Then, I dyed it back and started working out to slim down. He told me that he didn't like skinny girls and forced fed me for a while. Then I changed my wardrobe. He said that I had turned into a whore so he dumped me," she said.

Randy tried to hide a satisfactory smile.

Liz chuckled. "It's okay to be happy, Randy. I'm happy about it. I don't have to be his punching bag anymore," she said. She left out a few details because she knew Randy wouldn't be able to handle them.

Randy nodded and dropped the subject. "We should get up and get something to eat," he said.

Liz nodded and headed towards the shower. Randy stayed in bed and thought about Liz's situation with Wade. He was glad that she was free of him. He wanted to try to make another move on Liz himself, but he knew it was too soon for Liz to think about any kind of relationships even though it had been months since she and Wade split. Randy sighed and cleared his head. He got up and looked through his bags for something to put on after his shower. He laid out a plain red t-shirt, a hoodie, and black denim jeans. He checked his schedule for the next few days. There wasn't much for him to do; there was dinner with his parents, and he was planning to visit Becky's grave. He had always planned to do so, but when time came, Randy would always back out at the last minute. He could never talk himself into actually doing it.

He put his phone down when he heard the bathroom door opening. Liz emerged wrapped in a towel. She lightly treaded toward the door to get her bags from the hallway where she dropped them. "I'm going to get dressed in the guest room," she said.

Randy nodded and watched her walk away. He knew what Liz was hiding, but he didn't think it was good idea to bring up Wade again. Instead, he took a shower and got dressed before he went downstairs to wait on Liz.

**[the next night]**

Randy and Liz were on their way to have dinner with Randy's family. Liz was still being a bit quiet. She sat in Randy's Bentley wearing a pair of skinny jeans and an oversized sweater. Her midsection as covered by the draping that the sweater provided.

Randy sighed and broke the silence. "So are you excited to see my parents?" he asked.

Liz nodded. "Yeah. I haven't seen them in a while," she said. "Are you excited to see Nate?" she asked.

He glanced at her and looked back to the road. "Thrilled," he breathed sarcastically.

Liz chuckled. "When was the last time you talked to him?" she asked.

Randy thought back to the last time he saw his younger brother. "Your graduation party," he said.

"Randy! That was two and a half years ago," she exclaimed.

"Not long enough," he said.

Liz shook her head. Randy and Nate had a falling out years ago about something Randy refused to ever talk about. Liz may be Randy's closest friend, but she knew better than to ever ask Randy about what happened between him and Nate. They never talked and they only ever saw each other on special occasions like graduations or, god forbid, funerals.

Soon enough, the Bentley rolled through the driveway leading to the Orton residence. Liz glanced over at her childhood home she sold almost a year prior. The setting sun made the house look even more beautiful than she remembered it. She sighed and looked away. Randy could tell that she missed Missouri, but he kept quiet.

"You ready?" he asked as he killed the car engine.

She nodded and smiled. She got out and headed to the front door of the Orton house. She patiently waited on Randy. When he got there, he knocked loudly on the door. They heard a faint squeal of excitement followed by a woman yelling excitedly, "They're here!", Randy and Liz heard.

They chuckled as the door was opened. Elaine Orton opened the door and smiled happily. "Randal!" she screeched as he hugged her eldest child. When they broke the hug, Elaine looked towards Randy's guest. "Randal, I thought Liz was coming; who is this young lady?" she asked.

Liz hung her head. Randy sighed. "This _is_ Liz, Mom," he said.

Elaine frowned. "Oh my. You look so differently, sweetheart," she said to Liz.

Liz tried to smile politely. "Yes, ma'am," she said.

"Can we come in, ma?" Randy asked.

Elaine smiled and nodded. "Of course, darling," she said as she opened the door wide and let Randy and Liz inside. Elaine went to the kitchen; Liz and Randy followed her.

"So how was the travel? Randal told me that you two had to take different flights," Elaine said in an attempt to make conversation. "It was okay," Liz said. She was still feeling the effects of Elaine not recognizing her. She was the only other woman she had as a role model growing up. Now that her own mother had passed away, Liz thought she would look to Elaine as a mother figure.

Randy sighed and took the focus off of Liz. "So where's Dad?" Randy asked his mother.

"He went out to pick up some last minute stuff for dinner," the older lady said.

The home's phone in the kitchen started to ring. "Excuse me for a second," Elaine said as she answered the phone.

Liz and Randy excused themselves to the living room. "I'm sorry about my mom, Liz," Randy said apologetically.

"It's okay, Randy. I look different; that's no argument," she said.

Randy nodded. "Here's the thing, Liz. There was nothing wrong with your look before Wade. Honestly, you are always beautiful no matter what. You were beautiful then and you're definitely beautiful now. It's almost like you're glowing," he said gesturing to Liz's body. Randy waited for Liz to blow up at him or slap him or do something defensive.

Instead, Liz nodded. "Thanks you, Randy. I really needed that," she said.

Just then, Elaine joined them in the living room. "There you two are. I thought you had run away from me," she said jokingly.

The two laughed lightly. "Can I help with anything?" Randy asked.

Elaine sighed. "There's nothing to be done here, but your brother just called and said he is having car trouble. I would love it if you would go pick him up," she said as she looked at Randy optimistically.

Randy frowned. "No way. I'm don't want to be anywhere near that ass—"

"You will watch your mouth in this house, Randal," she said angrily.

He sighed. "What if he's lying, Ma? He probably just doesn't want to come over because he knows I'm here," he said.

Elaine shook his head. "I don't know what got into you boys, but you two need to sit down and work it out. I will not have my boys fighting for the rest of their lives," she said. "Now," she continued. "I'm not asking you. I'm _telling_ you to go pick up your brother and bring him back here in one piece in time for dinner," Elaine said as she scolded her son.

Liz snickered at how Elaine tore The Viper to shreds.

Randy mumbled something, most likely curses, under his breath.

"Did you hear me, boy?" Elaine asked with her hands on her hips.

Randy nodded. "Yes, ma'am," he said as he stood from where he sat on the sofa.

Liz grabbed his wrist. "Can I come with you?" she asked.

Randy shook his head. "No. I'd prefer you to say here. I'll be back soon," he said.

Liz nodded and watched him walk out. She sighed and turned to Elaine who was just staring at her. Eventually, Elaine sat next to Liz.

"So, how have you been Elizabeth?" she asked.

"I've been okay," Liz said.

"How do like Mississippi?" Elaine asked.

Liz shrugged. "It's okay," she said.

Elaine frowned. For some reason, Liz was being short with her. "Is there something bothering you, dear?" she asked Liz.

"Actually, yeah. It really hurt that you didn't recognize me," she said quietly.

Elaine nodded. "I know, sweetie, and I'm so sorry for that. I was expecting to see the same little girl I saw next door almost a year ago," she said.

Liz continued to sit quietly.

"So," Elaine started. She was interrupted.

"Anybody home?" they heard coming from the kitchen. It was Bob.

"We're in the living room!" Elaine shouted.

Soon enough, Bob Orton rounded the corner. He smiled when he saw Liz.

"Well look at who finally decided to visit. How are you, sweetheart?" he asked.

She smiled. "I'm fine, Poppy, thanks. How about yourself?" she asked.

He smiled at the term of endearment and shrugged. "I'm alright. I think I've been suffering from a little empty nest syndrome without having you next door anymore," he said.

Liz chuckled softly.

"Did you get everything on the list?" Elaine asked her husband.

He nodded. "Yep,"

Elaine smiled. "Good. Elizabeth, could you help me with the rest of dinner?" she asked.

Liz nodded and followed Elaine to the kitchen.

Almost half an hour later, Randy and Nate came through the front door arguing.

"…I'm just saying that if you didn't want to come tonight, you should have said so instead of lying!" Randy shouted as the bothers walked through the house.

"Whatever, man! I didn't lie," Nate said to defend himself.

"So, what? Your car only starts when somebody besides you gets behind the wheel?" Randy asked rhetorically.

"I don't know, dude!"

"Cut the bullshit, Nate! You—"

Bob cut in. "Watch your mouth, boy!" he scolded his eldest son.

Randy sighed. "Hey, Pop," he said as he hugged his father.

"What are you boys going on about, now?" Elaine asked.

"Randy accused me of lying about my car to get out of coming to dinner," Nate explained.

"It's not an accusation if I proved it, dumbass," Randy said to his younger brother. He turned his attention to his mother. "Ma, when I got there, I asked Nate what was wrong with the car and he said that it wouldn't start. So I got in his car and tried starting it. It started on the first try. He was lying just like I told you he was," Randy said.

Nate shook his head. "I would never lie to you, Ma," he lied kindheartedly.

Elaine sighed. "I know, baby. Why do you always have to cause trouble with your brother, Randy?" she asked.

Randy's eyes widened. "Are you fucking serious?!"

"I won't tell you again, Randal! Do not curse in this house!" Elaine yelled.

"No! You have always taken his side! Just because he's the youngest doesn't mean he's always innocent!" he said as he stormed away upstairs.

Everyone else stood in the kitchen and stared at each other. When a door upstairs slammed, they all flinched.

"I'm going to go check on him," Liz volunteered.

Liz gently knocked on the door of Randy's childhood bedroom.

"Leave me alone!" she heard.

"It's me, Randy. Can I come in?" she asked softly. She waited for a response but Randy opened the door and stepped aside to let her in. Liz looked around and saw that the room had been transformed into a more adult-like bedroom.

"Did they send you?" Randy asked.

She chuckled. "No. I came up here all by myself," she said.

Randy huffed and laid down on the bed with his hands behind his head. His eyes were closed. He felt the bed dip. Liz draped an arm around Randy's midsection and rested her head on his chest.

"Talk to me," she said.

Randy sighed. "They always take his side," he said.

Liz tried to hold back a laugh. "I gathered that from what just happened downstairs," she said.

He remained quiet.

"Something else is bothering you," she said as she looked up at him. "What's going on?"

He took a deep breath and looked up at her. "I don't know, Liz. I just feel like I'm not good enough for anybody anymore. I mean, Hunter and Steph keep making me look like I'm weak; you don't love me; now my own parents don't believe me when I say Nate's lying."

Liz sat up and sighed. "Randy—" she started.

Randy shook his head. "Don't. I just really want to be alone right now," he said.

"Just listen to me, Randy," she started. "How I feel about you isn't your fault," she said.

He chuckled dryly. "That's a first," he said.

"What?" Liz asked.

"I've never had a girl give me the 'It's not you, it's me' line," he said as he propped himself up on his elbows.

She sighed. "I do love you, but I can't make myself be _in_ love with you. With everything that happened with Wade, it's going to be hard for me to be in love with anybody at his point."

Randy stood angrily. "Don't give me that bullshit, Liz. I told you how I felt about you before you got serious with Wade. Everything that happened with you and him could have been avoided if—" Randy tasted how bitter his words were.

Liz shook her head and stood to leave.

"That's not what I meant, Liz," he said sympathetically as he tried to hug her.

Liz tore out of his arms. "That's exactly what you meant, Randy," she said. "You always blame shit on other people. You can never admit when you've done something wrong. If you told me how you felt earlier, things probably would have been different. You waited until you saw me with Wade to say something," she said.

Randy hung his head; he knew Liz was right.

She continued. "You got jealous and realized that you had lost your chance, instead of telling me up front. I could have fallen in love with you, Randy, but you were too busy keeping up your tough guy image. You and I would have worked out perfectly. So many people told me that we were made for each other. I didn't mess that up, you did. So, don't invite me to your pity party," ranted.

It took Liz a few minutes to calm down, but when she did, she spoke again. "And you're right. I could have avoided Wade had you told me sooner. I went looking for somebody I knew you couldn't or wouldn't protect me from. I got myself in a lot of trouble because of it. I should have listened to what you had to say that day. If I actually gave you a chance, I wouldn't have been in such a shitty situation. And for that, I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't blame yourself for what he did to you, Liz. It's not your fault,"

Liz sniffled as a tear fell to her cheek. "I tried to tell myself that every day, but…" she trailed off.

Randy stepped forward and hugged her tightly. "It's over, now, Liz," he said soothingly. Liz cried into his chest as he rubbed her back.

"I can't force you to but, I think you should at least press charges," Randy said out of the blue.

She shook her head. "I don't think that would be a good idea. It could make him even more upset and I don't want to give him a reason to hurt me again," she said.

"Dinner is ready!" Elaine shouted up the stairs.

"We'll be down in a minute, Ma," Randy shouted back as Liz wiped her face of tears.

Randy sighed and looked down into Liz's hazel eyes. "I love you, Liz and I want to give us a try on clean slate," he said.

Liz looked to the floor. "I don't know, Randy. I don't want to be in your little black book of hookups. If we do this, I need some kind of security; I need to know that I can trust you and depend on you 100 percent," she said.

Randy nodded in understanding. "I get that, Liz and I can give you security. I told you that I haven't had a girlfriend in almost three years now. We can make this work if you just give me the chance. Of course I'll have to make a few changes, but that'll be easy," he said.

She took a shaky breath and looked into his usually cold eyes that suddenly showed warmth. "I'll have to think about it," she said.

He stared at her lips as he moved his hands to her waist and pulled her flat against his body. "Can I give you something to think about?" he asked.

Liz bit her lip and rubbed his chest with his hands as she looked at him, nodding. Randy leaned down and captured her lips in a soft kiss.

Randy's lips on hers were like fire; she deepened the kiss and moaned. Before anything more could happen, the door was pushed open.

"Ma said the food is—"

Liz and Randy quickly broke apart. Nate stood in the doorway with a grin on his face.

"Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say somebody's robbing the cradle," he said with a smug attitude.

Liz blushed and quickly left the room.

Randy almost growled at his younger brother as they stood alone in the room. "You say anything, and I'll cut off your balls with my bare hands," he warned quietly enough so Liz wouldn't hear as she was leaving, but he made sure Nate could hear the promise. Nate nodded and tried to keep the remarks that danced on his tongue to himself.

They both went downstairs to join Bob, Elaine, and Liz for dinner. Elaine had cooked a pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, homemade yeast rolls, and a pecan pie with a dollop of whipped cream. Bob sat at the head of the long, rectangular table. Elaine was on his left, Nate was on his right, Liz was next to Nate, and Randy was next to Elaine. Once they were all seated, they joined hands so Bob could bless the food.

When the food was blessed, they started eating in an uncomfortable silence. "So, Nate," Liz started to break the silence. "How have you been?" she asked.

"I've been alright," he said as a slight smirk danced on his lips.

Liz nodded and eyed Randy; nonverbally telling him to say something.

"Um, you seeing anybody, Nate?" he asked.

Nate scoffed. "Not that it's any of your business, but no. What about you?" he asked with his eyebrow raised.

"Actually, uh, yeah," Randy answered.

Liz almost choked on her food. "I didn't know you were seeing somebody," she said as she glared at him. He knew she was angry about the admission considering they had already had two make-out sessions in the last 24 hours.

Nate looked between the two as if he was waiting for more drama to ensue.

Randy looked around the table; making sure to avoid Liz's eye contact. "It's nothing serious," he said nonchalantly.

Bob raised an eyebrow. "Well how long have you been dating this girl?" he asked.

Randy took a deep breath. "We aren't really dating. We've only been seeing each other for about three months," he said.

Liz was seething.

Elaine smiled. "Wow. It's been a while since I've heard you talk about a girl. She must be pretty great for you to mention her,"

Randy smiled and blushed. "Yeah. She's pretty cool," he said.

"Well what's her name?" Bob asked.

Randy glanced at Liz. "Eva Marie," he said.

Liz's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "Really?" she asked almost angrily.

Even Nate was shocked. He thought Randy was talking about Liz the whole time.

He nodded.

Nate chuckled. "Watch out for girls with double names. Those kind of girls have split personalities. Why do you think she has two names? One for each personality," he said. "Too bad you don't have two names. That way, you'd at least have half of a personality." He continued.

Randy was fed up. "Fuck you, dude. At least I've got a girl. All you do is sit in your bedroom and jerk off all day," he said.

Before Bob or Elaine could scold him, there was a loud banging on the door.

"POLICE! OPEN UP!" they heard.

Bob got up and opened the door. "How can I help you?" he asked.

Without warning, the officers forced the door open with guns drawn. There was a detective who showed Bob a piece of paper. "We have an arrest warrant," he said.

The police officers stormed the house and looked around. When they saw Randy, they started shouting at him.

"ON YOUR FEET! PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD AND GET ON YOUR KNEES!" they ordered.

Randy complied without arguing because he knew what was happening and why it was happening. The one thing he had been fearing this whole time was finally coming to fruition.

"Randy Orton, you're under arrest for murder. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you by the state. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?"

Randy nodded as the handcuffs were put in place.

**TBC**

**A/N: Credit to TheGirlInThePinkScarf for her input of sibling rivalry on this chapter. Love you, girl! **

**PLEASE REVIEW for a sneak peek at chapter 11.**


	11. The Arrest: Part II

**Chapter 11—The Arrest: Part II**

**A/N: WARNING: This chapter contains the mention of someone dying. This chapter is a bit long, but I didn't want to make a part three to Randy's arrest. This is the most dramatic chapter of this story. Please review. **

Everyone was speechless, except for Nate, of course. "Whoa. Who'd you kill, bro?" he asked.

"Shut up, Nate!" Liz grumbled. She turned her attention to Randy as he was on his knees with his hands in the air.

Having learned a little bit of law from Dolph, Liz knew what was allowed and what wasn't.

"Take everything out of your pocket, Randy," she told him before the cuffs were on.

The police knew what she was doing so they tried to hurry with the cuffs. Randy frowned in confusion.

"Just do it!" she yelled at him, partially angry at him and partially scared for him.

He did as Liz told him before the officers could handcuff him. One of the officers groaned.

Nate was curious. "What was that?" he asked Liz as the officers pulled Randy from the floor.

Liz sighed in relief when she had Randy's cell phone and car keys in her hands. "If they found these on him when they frisked him, they could search is car and phone without a warrant. Now that they are in my possession, they have to have a warrant to search either one; which means they have to have probable cause; which means they would have to have evidence against Randy in this so called murder," she said as she glared at the officers.

"You go, Scooby Doo," Nate said with a grin.

Liz shook her head and rolled her eyes, "That doesn't even make sense," she said.

Randy opened his mouth to speak. "NO! Don't say anything without a lawyer," she warned.

One of the officers chuckled. "Listen to your girlfriend, tough guy," he suggested.

Nate opened his mouth. "Oh, she's not his girlfriend," he lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned towards the officer. "It's complicated," he said.

Liz glared at the officer. "Don't worry, Randy. I'm right behind you," she said as she followed him and the officers out the door.

Randy shook his head. "No, Liz. Stay here. I don't want you to see me like this," he said. The officers pushed him up against the police cruiser and searched him.

"SHUT UP!" she yelled at him. "You really need to use the right to silence, Randy. Everything is going to be okay," she said as she watched the officers frisk him and search his pockets. They roughly yanked him up from the car's hood.

Liz gasped at the treatment. "Be careful with him! He has hypermobile shoulders! If anything happens to them, you will be held responsible," she said. One of the officers smirked and purposely his Randy's shoulder on the door frame.

He groaned out in pain. "Ah! Motherfucker!" he yelled as the pain shot down his arm.

"Oops," the officers said sarcastically in unison.

Liz could see the bulge in his sweater; she knew his shoulder was dislocated. She ran to help him, but the officers pushed her away. "He's ours now; you can see him when he gets settled in county," one of them said arrogantly as the cruiser door closed Randy in the backseat.

Before Liz could do or say anything more, the detective approached her. "Are you Elizabeth Caro?" the female detective asked.

Liz nodded. "Why?" she asked as she watched the police cars peel away; one of them in which Randy sat in pain.

"I'm Olive Hash and this is my partner, Michelle Somers. We're investigating the death of Nicholas Potenza. I need you to come with us," she said.

Liz frowned. She vaguely knew that name, but she couldn't match a face with it. "I don't think I know him," she said.

The detective reached in her pocket and pulled out a photo to show her. Liz gasped when she saw the photo of a deceased man on a medical examiners' table. It was the young car designer from the car show months ago who gave her a ride in his custom made car: the Potenza P1.

"What happened to him?" Liz asked.

"I'll explain of that back at the station," the detective said as she gently grasped Liz's arm.

Liz pulled her arm away. "I can drive myself," she insisted.

The detective shook her head. "I think it would be best if you just ride with us," she said as she moved closer to Liz.

Liz scoffed and backed away from the detectives. "Am I under arrest?" she asked.

The detective hesitated and sighed. "No," she said.

"Well, until you can arrest me for something, I don't _have_ to do a damn thing. I won't be doing you any favors by answering your questions. My only objective will be to clear Randy's name. Now, I will drive myself to you little office. I'll be in that pretty little Bentley over there when I follow your beat up company car," she said condescendingly.

The detectives nodded and let Liz walk to the car.

Liz got in Randy's Bentley. She closed the door and started the car. She tried to keep calm as she waited for the detective to pull off. Liz took a deep breath and waited for the detective to pull off. She was looking at herself in the rearview mirror when she saw something glittery in the backseat. She reached for the item; it was a pink gift bag covered in glitter. Inside was a birthday card and a Michael Kors watch. She smiled at the fact that Randy remembered her 21st birthday. She couldn't admire the gift for long because the detectives had started their car. She repackaged the card and gift before she followed.

**[police precinct]**

Liz followed the detectives into the building.

Detective Somers pointed Liz in the direction of an interrogation room. "We'll be with you in a moment. Would you like anything to drink?" Detective Somers asked.

She shook her head. "No, thanks," she said. Liz went into the office and sat down. She waited patiently until the detectives returned. They each carried at least one folder with them and sat on the opposite side of the tables. When they put the folders on the table, Liz clearly saw three files; one of them had her name on it.

"So, Elizabeth Caro," Detective Hash started as she read from a file. "Daughter of Valentino Caro and Regina Parkley-Caro. No siblings; grew up right here in St. Louis. You worked in retail since you were 14. You graduated high school almost three years ago. Your parents kicked the bucket a year ago," she was very disrespectful; Hash continued to read.

"And the rest is sealed by the government. I wonder why?" she asked sarcastically.

Liz shrugged. "You work for the government. You should have access to that information—unless it's above your pay grade," she said smugly.

Hash narrowed her eyes at Liz.

Detective Somers took a deep breath. "All we want from you, Elizabeth, is for you to tell the truth. If you're honest with us, your boyfriend will have a much easier experience,"

"He's not my boyfriend," she said.

Hash scoffed.

"When can I see him?" Liz asked; completely ignoring Hash's tactics.

Somers pressed her lips together and sighed. "The sooner you answer my questions, the sooner you can see him," she said.

Liz nodded and waited for the detectives to start the questioning.

"Can you tell us what happened between Mr. Potenza and Mr. Orton?" Somers asked.

She nodded. "Nick was at the car show Randy and I went to. Nick and I were flirting and he took me for a ride in his custom car. When we got back, Randy was waiting on him because he thought Nick had kidnapped me," she said.

Hash stopped her, "How do you know what your boyfriend—I'm sorry. How do you know what your 'friend' was thinking," she asked using air quotes around 'friend'.

"Because I've known Randy my whole life. I know how he thinks," Liz said.

"Oh, so you're a mind reader, now?" Hash asked mockingly.

Before Liz could answer, Somers spoke up.

"What exactly happened when you and Mr. Potenza returned to the car show?" Somers asked.

"When we got back, Randy was standing in his parking spot. He pulled Nick out of the car and punched him," Liz said.

Somers nodded and jotted notes. "Is there anything else?

Liz pretended to think. "Hmmm. I don't know," she said smugly.

Hash rolled her eyes; Somers sighed.

"Well, Ms. Caro. If Mr. Orton is out of interrogation, you could go downstairs to see him before he's transported to county/ He'll be extradited as soon as Madison police get here," Somers said.

Liz nodded and stood to leave, but Hash stopped her. "Remember, there will be someone watching and listening to the conversation," she said.

"No, shit," Liz said under her breath as she left the interrogation room.

She went down the stairs and saw Randy sitting alone in an interrogation room through a small glass window on the door. Liz also saw that the arresting officers were just standing outside the room like they were waiting on her.

"Can I talk to him?" she asked as she approached them.

The officers looked at each other and smirked. "Why of course. Of course you can just waltz into this place and have your every request granted. Right this way, princess," one of the officers said as he showed Liz into the room. She huffed as she walked by them.

Liz had already had enough of Hash's sass, now she had to put up with the officers'.

When she was inside the room with Randy, the officers closed the door and stepped away from the small glass window in the door. Before Liz could even sit down across from Randy, the officers had tapped on the two way mirror to let Randy and Liz know that they were watching.

She sighed at the sound but focused all of her attention on Randy who didn't look too scared.

"What the hell is going on, Randy?" she asked as she sat.

Randy sighed. "Remember the car show?" he asked.

Liz nodded.

"Well, apparently, that guy I fucked up didn't press charges. But he had to have surgery then he went into a coma after the surgery. He died this morning from the injuries I caused so they're charging me with his death," he explained.

She nodded. "So that's why you were acting so weird after it happened?" she asked.

Randy nodded. "Yeah. Madison police called me and told me about the coma the next morning and told me that if he died, I would go to jail even though he didn't want to press charges for assault. But now they're saying that I have to go back to Madison since that's where the crime was committed," he said.

Liz sighed. "I only told the detectives what they already knew, so…" she said.

Randy took a deep breath. "Thanks," he said.

"No problem," she said.

There was about a minute of uncomfortable silence.

"How's your shoulder?" she asked.

Randy frowned as he was reminded about the pain he had just begun to ignore. "Hurts like hell," he said.

Liz nodded. "Can I fix it for you?" she asked. Randy was still in handcuffs and the officers didn't get him the medical attention he needed for his dislocated shoulder.

"Please do," he begged.

She chuckled and walked over to him. As soon as she laid a hand on him, the officers chimed in through the intercom. "No touching," an officer bellowed.

"You did this to him! I'm just trying to fix it!" she yelled at her reflection.

There was silence from the officers for a moment. Then they spoke again. "Fine. Make it quick," the other officer said.

"Thank you," Liz said mockingly. She turned her attention back to Randy. "Ready?" she asked.

He nodded vigorously. "Yeah,"

"Deep breaths, okay? On three. Start the count when you're ready,"

He winced and took deep breaths as he nodded. It took few seconds for Randy to start the count.

"One," he said. "Two," he was calm. Right before he got to three, Liz popped his shoulder back into place.

"MOTHERFUCKER!" Randy yelled in pain.

"Better?" Liz asked after Randy seemed comfortable.

He nodded. "Much better. Thank you," he said as he cradled his shoulder.

Liz smiled and slapped him hard across the face.

The officers chimed in yet again. "Watch it!" they yelled.

"THIS IS NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS!" Liz yelled at the mirror.

"What the fuck was that for?" he asked as he rubbed his stinging cheek.

"That's for not telling me about Eva Marie," she said.

Randy sighed. "I didn't think I would have to tell you. It's not like you and I are a couple," he said.

Liz scoffed. "What the fuck do you mean it's not like we're a couple?! You just tried to fuck me yesterday! You asked me out AGAIN today and I told you that I would think about it. In what part of this whole situation would be the right time to tell me about her?" she asked.

Randy didn't say anything, so Liz knew the answer. "You weren't going to tell me at all, were you?" she asked.

He took a deep breath. "She and I aren't dating, Liz. We're just talking! She told me that you were okay with it, so I don't know why you're so mad," he said.

"I never told her I was okay with it! Well, I did, but that's not what I meant. I told her that she wasn't your type and that she shouldn't even try unless she wanted to get her heart broken," she said.

"But she tried anyway, so that's why you're mad? You're jealous?" he asked.

Liz was fuming. "JEALOUS? YOU THINK I'M JEALOUS OF THAT SLUT?! You don't know a goddamn thing about me if you think I'm jealous. If I wanted you, Randy, I could have you. I'm mad because you fucking lied to me! You laid on the charm like you were ready to jump into a relationship with me all the while Eva was trying to jump on your dick," she ranted.

Randy was quiet.

She paused for a minute. "You already slept with her didn't you?" she asked.

He didn't answer. "YOU BETTER ANSWER ME YOU LYING ASSHOLE!"

He still didn't say anything.

Liz scoffed. "See? This is why I can't trust you. I refuse to put myself in this situation when you're already lying to me!"

"I didn't lie to you. You never asked, so I didn't say anything," Randy said softly.

"Well I'm asking you now, Randy. Did you or did you not fuck her?!" she yelled.

"Lizard—"

"Don't you pull that 'Lizard' shit with me! I'm not in the mood for nicknames. And omitting the truth _is _lying,"

"You know what, _Elizabeth_? Since omitting the truth is considered lying, you're just as big of a liar as you accuse me to be," he said smugly; he never talked to Liz as The Viper, but there's a first time for everything.

She frowned. "What are you talking about?" Liz asked.

"You were so quick to call Eva Marie a slut that you forgot to look at yourself. At lease she didn't get pregnant," he said.

Liz just looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah. I know about the baby," he said.

Took a deep breath; she was silent for a few seconds. "Fuck you, Randy. I really hope she was worth it, because as far as I'm concerned, whatever this is between us is over," she said as she started walking out.

Randy called for her and tried to stop her. "I'm sorry, Liz didn't mean it like that,"

Liz kept walking out the door.

The security guard gave Liz all of her belongings back that she had to surrender before she could see Randy. She thanked the guard and left. When she got back into Randy's car, she took a deep breath to process everything that was happening.

Liz sat for while in thought. Part of her still wanted to help Randy, but most of her decided that he deserved everything that would be coming to him for what he did and said to her. She had already determined that she and Randy would never be the same as friends again. Liz thought about what Randy said about her being jealous of Eva Marie. Of course Liz was jealous; she wasn't afraid to admit it to herself. She and Randy would have made a great couple and she knew that.

Her trust issues paired with Randy blatantly hitting on her while he was close to Eva was something that Liz couldn't handle. Randy knew she was going through a lot but he seemed to disregard that completely. Liz would have given anything to be with Randy, but that seemed beyond reality at that moment.

When her mind was clear, Liz pulled out of the parking lot. They had a house show right outside of St. Louis the next night, so she had to leave the city. Before she left St. Louis, Liz went back to the Orton house where she explained to the rest of the family what was going on with Randy and his arrest. She left out the personal conversation between her and her now ex-best friend.

"We don't mind if you stay the night, Liz," Elaine said after the explanation settled in.

Liz smiled thankfully. "Thanks, Ma, but I already made other arrangements. I just came to say goodbye. Then, I have to drop off Randy's car at his house," she said.

Bob frowned. "Where are you going to go?" he asked out of concern.

She chuckled. "Don't worry, Poppy. I'm going to a hotel," she said.

"Well, at least let us pay for the hotel room," he said as he pulled out his wallet.

Liz shook her head. "No, but thank you, anyway. A friend of mine is letting me crash in his room at the hotel downtown," she said.

Nate laughed. "Wow, Liz. You're already stepping out on Randy. They have conjugal visits, ya know," he said. She ignored Nate and walked past him to hug Bob and Elaine. She eventually hugged Nate as well, but she quickly broke the hug when he whispered sexual expletives in her ear. Liz said her goodbyes and left.

It wasn't long until she pulled away and drove in silence to Randy's house where she planned on leaving the Bentley. She pulled up to the garage and pressed a button on the remote control that was clipped to the visor; the garage door slowly rose. Liz pulled into the garage and cut the power on the car. She pressed the remote control button for a second time and watched the garage door go down. Liz used the keys to get into the house through the door that was in the garage.

When she was inside, she went upstairs to get her bags. She packed up all of her belongings and slipped Randy's keys in her bag as well. She decided to hang on to them instead of locking them in the house or car. When she was all packed, she called Dolph.

_Hey, Liz. What's up?_

**Nothing; I'm all packed. Do you know how to get to Randy's place?**

_Yeah. I've been there before. I literally just pulled up._

**Wow. That was quick.**

_I'm the real superman; Cena just gets all the credit._

Liz chuckled and hung up the phone.

When she opened the front door to walk out, Dolph saw her struggling with her bags, so he got out of his rental to help.

"Thanks, Dolph," Liz said as Dolph grabbed all of her luggage.

He winked. "No problem," he said.

She locked the door and followed Dolph to the car. She sat in the passenger seat while Dolph put the bags away. Dolph soon got back in the driver's seat and backed out of the driveway.

"So, what happened?" he asked.

Liz sighed and told the story, leaving out the personal conversation, of course. By the time she was done, they had pulled up to the hotel. Dolph parked and tried to process the information.

"Wait. Who is Nick again?" he asked.

"Oh, I forgot you didn't go to the car show. Nick is the guy who took me for a ride in his car. When we got back to the show, Randy was waiting on him," she said.

Dolph frowned. "So how did he die again?" he asked.

"Randy beat him up so bad that he had to go to the hospital. The police said that he had some internal bleeding and other stuff that he died from," she said.

"I don't get it," Dolph said. "Why didn't he just press charges?" he asked.

Liz shrugged. "I don't know. The police are saying that Nick was afraid to press charges. They said that Nick might have feared for his life," she said.

Dolph shook his head. "What did you tell them?" he asked referring to the police as they got out of the car.

"Nothing they didn't already know. You know how me and Randy get: we had an argument when the police let me see him. He pissed me off, so I just left," she said. They walked into the hotel and Dolph led the way to the elevators.

"So you didn't defend him?" he asked as he pressed the up button on one of the elevators.

She shook her head. "Nope," Liz said. Dolph sighed and stepped on the elevator with Liz as the stainless steel doors opened.

"What was the argument about today?" he asked.

Liz chuckled. "Which one?" she asked.

Dolph chuckled lightly with disbelief. "You and him are like an old married couple. You two can hate each other one minute, but eventually, you always end up working things out. It may take a few minutes or a few months. Either way, the fights between you and him don't last forever," he said.

Liz smiled and took a breath to speak but her cellphone rang as they stepped off the elevator and onto the floor of Dolph's room.

**Hello?**

_Elizabeth Caro?_

**Yes. Who is this?**

_I'm Randy Orton's lawyer; you were at the detention center earlier to visit him, right?_

**Yeah. So?**

_So, you are a vital part in this situation. He told me that you saw what happened between him and the victim._

**You seem to know exactly what happened, so why do you need me?**

**_I_**_ don't need you, **Randy** needs you. He's going to be charged with murder if you don't come down and tell the police what happened. He could spend the rest of his life in prison, but if you come forward, he could get off with probation._

**I'm busy. Sorry.**

Before the lawyer could say anything more, Liz had hung up the phone.

**[day's later] **

Liz woke up in her hotel room in downtown St. Louis; it was the Monday after the PPV. Raw was that night. She yawned as she sat up to check her phone; there were several missed calls from Randy and his lawyer. There was only one voice message from Randy, though.

_"I will go to jail for the rest of my life if you don't come in and testify! You know it was an accident, Liz! Please don't let me go to prison. I know I fucked up, but I really need you right now. Call me back," _

**[Randy's extradition trial]**

"Your Honor, the prosecution thinks the defendant is flight risk and that he shouldn't be extradited to Mississippi. Murder is the same everywhere," the prosecutor said.

Randy's lawyer chimed in. "My client is willing to relinquish his passport Your Honor. We, too, would prefer if he stay here in Missouri. Even though my client is innocent, murder is _indeed_ the same everywhere. It's unfortunate that Mr. Potenza is dead, Your Honor, but he didn't want to press charges against my client, so Mr. Orton shouldn't even be here,"

The prosecution interrupted. "The defendant is an ex-Marine, Your Honor,"

The lawyer shook his head. "My client was kicked out, Your Honor,"

"So what!" the prosecution started. "He still had all of the physical training. The defendant himself is a deadly weapon. He's also a trained professional wrestler. He could easily be a danger to anyone else. He has a past filled with anger management issues and violence both inside and outside of professional wrestling. He is a danger to everyone around him. That's why we ask that he be remanded."

Randy's lawyer suddenly saw Liz slip into the courtroom; he gave a sigh of relief. "Your Honor, I have someone in the courtroom whose statement could prove that my client isn't a murderer," he said.

The lawyer shook her head. "That's what a trial is for, counselor," she said.

The attorney sighed. "But if she speaks, Your Honor, this case won't make it to trial. Please just give me a chance," the lawyer begged.

The judge seemed to think it over. "Why hasn't this person already made a statement to the police?" she asked.

Randy's lawyer shrugged. "I'm not sure, Your Honor. Maybe my client can answer that," he said.

The judge motioned for Randy to explain. Randy leaned over to his lawyer to make sure his statement wouldn't hurt his chances of an acquittal.

"Why do you have to consult with your attorney to answer the question?" the judge asked.

Randy sighed and ignored the judge's question. Instead, he explained why Liz hadn't spoken to the police. "We had disagreements of sorts before and after I was arrested, Your Honor. I assume she wouldn't speak to the police because she was angry at me,"

"Were these disagreements violent?" the judge asked with a frown.

Randy leaned over to his attorney again.

"Please be reminded that you are under oath," the judge said.

Randy nodded. "Yes, ma'am. The disagreements were not violent in nature on my part," he answered.

The judge was getting frustrated. "Do you care to explain to me what in the world that means?" he asked.

Randy was about to answer, but Liz spoke up from where she stood. "I slapped him, Your Honor," she said.

The judge motioned to the bailiff to bring Liz forward. When Liz was sworn in and seated at the witness' stand, the judge proceeded to question her.

"State your name," the judge said.

"Elizabeth Caro,"

"Okay, Miss Caro, what was the reason for the disagreements?" she asked.

Liz chuckled. "There was more than one reason for the arguments," she said. "The first reason on that particular day Randy was arrested was about us being in a relationship. He asked me out months ago, but I turned him down. Then he asked about it again, and I told him that I couldn't trust him. That's when the first argument started and ended. The second argument was about his current girlfriend that he failed to mention before he kissed me… on two separate occasions," Liz explained as she glared at Randy.

There was silence in the courtroom.

"Um, Okay. Counselor?" the judge motioned for Randy's lawyer to ask questions.

"Miss Caro, could you explain to the court what happened on the day of August 17th?" he asked.

Liz nodded. "Randy, some of his coworkers, and I all went to a car show in Madison, Mississippi. Randy ended up beating up the guy I was flirting with,"

"Why did he attack the man?" the attorney asked.

Liz sighed and shook her head before explaining the events leading up to Randy's attack on Nick.

**_"I'm Nicholas Potenza." He said as he offered his hand in a greeting. _**

**_…_**

**_"I don't think you ever told me your name," he said. _**

**_"Oh, I'm Liz. It's good to meet you Nicholas." She said. _**

**_He smiled. "Good to meet you, too, but you can call me Nick. I hear a slight accent." He said. _**

**_Liz chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. My dad was born in Italy. He lived there his whole life until he married my mom. I didn't think I had an accent; I've been in America my entire life." She said. _**

**_Nick nodded. "I guess we Italians can spot our own in strange ways." He said. _**

**_She giggled and nodded. _**

**_"So, would you be interested in taking a ride in the Potenza?" Nick asked. _**

**_"Are you sure no one would mind?" she asked skeptically. _**

**_Nick shrugged. "Why would they? It's my name on the car." He said. _**

**_Liz laughed. "True… I'd love to go for a ride." She said. _**

**_He nodded and led Liz to the passenger side and helped her inside the car. As he closed the butterfly doors, he winked at Liz; she blushed. Nick then pulled a set of keys from his pocket; he ducked into the driver seat, closed the door, and started the car. He revved the engine a bit. _**

**_"You hear how it purrs?" he asked Liz. She nodded. "Well, that's not the only thing I can make purr." He said sensuously. _**

**_Liz raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Oh, really?" she asked. _**

**_Nick smirked and pulled off. There had been a designated strip of road that was blocked off for people to test drive the cars at the show. He sped down the road, giving the car all it could take. He made sharp turns as he drifted into them. The car vibrated softly as the driver manhandled it. When the ride was done, Nick returned the car to its spot in the car show's display lot. It was where Randy was waiting impatiently; Liz could tell that he was angry, but she didn't say anything to Nick about it. _**

**_Before Nick could even get out of the car, Randy had opened the door and dragged him out. He grabbed Nick's collar and slammed him up against the car; Randy threw punch after punch to Nick's face. Liz screamed for Randy to stop. _**

**_"What are you doing, Randy?! Stop it! Leave him alone!" she yelled. It was no use; Randy kept at it. It took John and Cody to pull Randy away from Nick. Even still, Randy kept lunging towards the car designer. John and Cody's combined strength wasn't enough; Randy broke free and went to attack Nick yet again. _**

**_This time, Nick was prepared; he kicked Randy in the stomach to slow him down. Randy was like an animal; he wasn't even affected by the kick. He returned by smashing Nick's head into the car's driver side window. _**

**_Liz screamed and covered her mouth. She tried to get Randy to stop yet again. "Please, Randy! Let him go! He didn't do anything!" she screamed at her best friend. _**

**_Randy seemed not to hear her at all; he continued the assault. He punched Nick across the face; sending him to the ground. Randy kicked and stomped him as he lay defenseless on the ground._**

**_He took a break from destroying Nick to catch his breath; Liz saw the opportunity to save Nick from further attack. She stepped in front of Nick in an attempt to protect him, but it was a failed attempt. Randy pushed her out of the way; she fell to the ground and cried out in pain. _**

**_Punk ran to her side to check on her. "Are you okay, Lizzy?" he asked._**

**_Liz winced as she raised her arm from the pavement. Shards of glass from the Potenza's window were lodged into her arm. While Randy continued the attack on Nick, Punk helped her to her feet. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up." He said. _**

**_She nodded and groaned as Punk led her away._**

"… I don't know what happened after that," she said.

The attorney nodded. "So is it safe to say that my client was only trying to protect you from someone he thought was causing you harm?" he asked.

Liz was still glaring at Randy. Her face was a light tinge of red out of anger. She rolled her eyes before answering. "Yeah,"

"You seem to harbor some anger towards my client. Can you explain why?" he asked.

Randy frowned as his lawyer looked at him. He didn't know where the attorney was going with the question; neither did the judge.

"What does that have to do with anything, Counselor?" the judge asked.

"I'm want to show the court that my client and Miss Caro are more than just friends. My client was trying to protect someone he cared deeply about. He still cares about her regardless of what her answer to my question will be," the lawyer answer.

The judge sighed. "I have nothing better to do, so why not? Answer the question, Miss Caro," she ordered.

"Are you sure you want me to answer that? I'm sure your oh-so-truthful client hasn't told you everything about us," she said.

"Just answer the damn question, Liz!" Randy said from where he sat.

Randy's attorney silently told the judge to watch what was about to happen before she could bang her gavel to get them to calm down.

Liz frowned. "Really? Me showing up to help your lying ass wasn't good enough. I'm not putting this shit out for everybody to see. I, for one, like to keep some parts of my life to myself," she said.

"Why is this so hard for you, Liz?!" he asked.

"Because you lied to my face, Randy!"

"How many times do I have to apologize for that?" he asked.

"Until you can turn back time and not do it." She said.

Randy sighed. "Well, I can't do that, so you'll just have to get over it. I can't just turn back the hands of time. I regret doing it because I hurt you, but at the same time, I couldn't just wait around for you,"

"You don't get it Randy. When you love somebody as much as you claim to love me, you wait forever and a day for that person," she said. She started to cry. "I waited for you,"

Everybody looked at Liz in confusion.

"What do you mean, Miss Caro?" the judge asked.

She sighed. "I've always had a crush on Randy. He was the older boy who lived next door when I was a kid. When I was 14, I settled for his younger brother because Nate was only two years older than me. I figured Nate would be a close second because knew I had to be a legal adult to date Randy at the time; plus, Randy was gone all the time because he was wrestling. When I finally turned 18, I broke up with Nate because I thought Randy was single. But I found out he was already in a relationship. So I told myself I would wait until he was single again. Then I didn't see him again because he was getting really busy with work. The next time I saw him was when my parents died a year or two later. He was only in town for the funeral and I was too emotional about the loss of my parents to talk to Randy about it, so…"

The entire courtroom was hushed. All that could be heard was Liz sniffling as she wiped the tears that flowed from her eyes.

Randy sat in shock. He didn't know that Liz had a crush on him all that time. The only thing he knew about was the break-up between Nate and Liz. He had assumed that Nate broke up with Liz instead of the other way around. That was the main reason as to why he and Nate hadn't spoken in so long. Sure, he and his brother fought before then, but for Randy, that was the final straw. He thought Nate had broken Liz's heart. Randy kept that to himself, though. He didn't want Liz to know that he knew about her relationship with Nate because he didn't want to open any wounds Liz may have had.

The attorney didn't know what to say. He stammered before he could say a full sentence. "So, um, Miss Caro… how old are you now?" he asked.

She sniffled and cleared her throat. "21," she answered simply.

"So you waited for seven years for my client?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Why did you say anything when he visited you months ago?" the attorney asked.

Liz took a deep breath. "There was a rumor going around about Randy dating one of the girls he works with. I asked him about it but I didn't believe him when he told me it wasn't true," she said.

The attorney was about to ask another question, but Randy interrupted him.

"I'm not that person any more, Liz. You know that," he said.

She shook her head. "No, I don't, Randy. I really don't. You went out and hooked up with Eva Marie while you were—doing whatever it is you were trying to do with me," she said.

He nodded. "I know, and I'm so very sorry for that. I should have talked to you about it first," he said.

"No, you shouldn't have. Like you said, it's not like we're a couple or anything," she said.

Randy sighed.

The attorney was all out of questions; the courtroom had settled into an awkward silence. "I guess that's it, Your Honor," he said.

The judge nodded. "Very well, Counselor. Let's recess and return in an hour. I'll make a ruling then," she said before banging her gavel.

Liz stood and walked away.

Randy attempted to run after her, but she turned on her heels.

"No, Randy. I'm tired of this with us; I really am. We're better off as just coworkers. I'll see you whenever I see you again. I hope all this turns out okay for you," she said.

Randy was about to speak, but Liz walked away again. This time, forever.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! PLEASE REVIEW for a sneak peek at chapter 12.**


	12. The Accident

**Chapter 12— The Accident**

**A/N: Special thanks to (Ghost303) for her input on this chapter. She really helped me out. I think y'all would love her work. So go check her out. Please and thank you, lovelies. **

[one month later]

The judge decided to throw out Randy's trial; he was acquitted. Randy Orton was a free man. Randy had tried to get in contact with Liz, but she never returned his calls or text messages. It was like his best friend erased him from her life completely.

Randy couldn't see her at work because on the day he was rested, WWE notified him of his suspension that would be in place until further notice. The creative team had come up with the storyline of Randy getting into a bar fight and being seriously injured. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship was dropped to Dolph Ziggler through a series of bracket-type matches. He prevailed and earned the championship just as Stephanie and Hunter had promised in return for Dolph's help in training Liz.

Liz and Dolph had grown much closer than either of them expected. Dolph would never admit it, but he felt like he was a rebound best friend for Liz to replace Randy. He had only ever mentioned Randy once after the hearing; he quickly learned to forget Randy ever existed after Liz gave him the silent treatment for days.

The friendship between Dolph and Liz was great, but Liz knew she had to tell Dolph something that was weighing heavily on her chest. It was the night of the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Liz didn't have a match that night because of her pregnancy. After Liz found out that Randy could tell that she was pregnant, she spoke to Stephanie and Hunter. They decided that Liz would only do her backstage interviews; that way, she would only be filmed from the chest up. No one outside of WWE ever had to know that she was expecting a child.

Everyone on the roster was backstage right before the Royal Rumble match started; they all played a vital part in the pay-per-view event. Hunter stood amongst the crowd; he was going over a few things before the first bell.

"As usual, we have the singles matches first. The Diva's championship will go first. So I need AJ and Nattie at the curtain right now!" he said loudly.

AJ and Nattie followed the orders and left the group.

Hunter continued. "Then the IC match is next. Big E and Axel are on deck. Remember to make the loss look real, Axel. Don't bitch out like you did last time. Do it right or never do it again," he said as he inconspicuously threated termination. Axel nodded and followed Big E to the waiting area.

As he looked over his notes, Hunter was interrupted by his wife Stephanie. She whispered into his ear. He seemed surprised by whatever was said. Once Stephanie was done, Hunter made a note in the binder from which he was reading his notes.

"Alright," Hunter resumed. "After the IC match, I want the tag team match. We want Cody and Dustin to win on account of Seth getting in Roman's way as he gets ready to spear Dustin," he said. All four men nodded and stood closer together to listen to the rest of the instructions.

"Right after that, we have Liz doing an interview with Dean. During the interview, Seth and Roman walk by arguing about the match. That's when Roman will break away from The Shield. Something along the lines of you being the strongest member would be great, Roman," he said.

Roman nodded and huddled with the rest of The Shield and The Brotherhood.

"All of that will lead up to the Royal Rumble match."

Dean cut Hunter off. "What about my championship, boss man?" he asked.

"We don't have enough room for that match, sorry. Maybe next time," Hunter said nonchalantly before continuing. "Make sure you know your order for the royal rumble match! People have messed this up in the past and if it happens tonight, you will be disciplined however Steph and I see fit. Just to make sure you all know where you fall, listen up:

CM Punk

Dean Ambrose

Jimmy Uso

Tyson Kidd

Jey Uso

Kofi Kingston

Cody Rhodes

Bray Wyatt

Sheamus

Erick Rowan

Seth Rollins

Evan Bourne

Mason Ryan

Daniel Bryan

Goldust

Fandango

Miz

Alberto del Rio

Antonio Cesaro

Big Show

Luke Harper

Swagger

Christian

Damien Sandow

R-Truth

And our last five will be announced when it's their time to enter the match. Only a few of you should be left before number 26 enters. Those of you are: Punk, Ambrose, Rollins, Mason Ryan, and Christian. We want everything leading up to the last five to enter to look good. I don't care what you do, as long as it looks good. I don't want any half-assing. You better sell every hit, every chop, every slap, and every bump. I don't want to have to call you into my office before the night is over. Now before number 26 enters, I need Mason Ryan to have eliminated at least Rhodes and Goldust singlehandedly. Then I want Ryan, Ambrose, and Rollins to have formed some sort of alliance since he will be joining The Shield soon. Punk, I need you to do whatever it is you do. I don't really care. Christian, I need you be focusing your attention on Ambrose and Rollins to build on them putting you out a few months ago. I'm trusting you five to know what to do when the remaining five enter. The last two remaining should be numbers 26 and 30. They'll duke it out until number 30 wins. Before you ask, numbers 26 through 30 already know who they are and they know what to do. Just focus on doing your jobs and everybody can go out for drinks on me after the show. " Hunter said ending the meeting.

The roster dispersed with the exception of Dolph and Liz. He saw that she was a bit quiet.

"You alright, Liz?" he asked.

She sighed and nodded. "I'm fine. I'm just a little worried. I have a really bad feeling about tonight. I don't know what it is," Liz said as she looked towards the floor.

Dolph nodded. "I don't know what it is you're feeling, but I have to tell you that there is a large possibility that Randy will be coming back tonight," he said.

Liz's head shot up as she stared daggers into Dolph's eyes. "Why would you say that?" she asked.

He took a deep breath and nodded to someone behind her. "Because he just showed up," he said. Liz looked back and saw Randy standing there. She huffed and tried to storm away, but Dolph grabbed her.

"You need to talk to him, Liz. He's been your best friend since you were a kid. Give him a chance; he might actually surprise you," That was all Dolph had to say before he walked off, leaving Liz to talk to Randy.

She sighed and turned around to see that Randy hadn't left; he had gotten closer.

"I know you don't want to see or talk to me right now, but I really just want to explain myself," he said.

Liz just looked at him. Inside, she was so happy to see him. Dolph had always said that she and Randy could never stay mad at each other; he was right. She wasn't mad at him at the moment, she was just annoyed by him.

"Fine, but not right now. I have to get ready for tonight. Just call me after the show because I assume you're in the royal rumble match?" she asked.

Randy chuckled and nodded. "Number 30 actually," he said.

Liz nodded. "Well, good luck, I guess." She said.

"Thanks. Promise to answer when I call?" he asked.

Liz couldn't stop the smile that came across her face. "Promise," she said before walking away. She had to go find Dolph; she had to tell him.

Liz rushed around backstage to find Dolph; unsurprisingly, she found him in his locker room.

"What's up, Liz? You talked to Randy?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. He's going to call so we can meet up after the show," she said.

"Good," he said.

Liz sat on the bench next to him. "I actually came to talk to you about something," she said.

Dolph frowned. "What is it?" he asked.

"Well, um, I don't know how you're going to take this, but I just ask that you not be judgmental," she said.

He nodded. "Of course. There's no judgment here," he said.

Liz sighed. "Well, here it goes," she said. She took several deep breathes and wrung her hands before blurting out, "I'm pregnant,"

Dolph just sat there as if he was expecting more.

Liz realized immediately what he was thinking. "… but you already knew that," she said quietly.

He nodded. "Yeah. I've known for a while. I just didn't want to invade your space," he said.

Liz was silent; it was awkward, so Dolph spoke again.

"I'm assuming Wade is the father?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Have you told him?" Dolph asked.

Liz nodded. "Yeah, but he didn't take it well," she said.

Dolph frowned. "What do you mean? How did he react?" he asked.

Little did Liz and Dolph know, Randy was standing on the other side of the door listening to the conversation. He gasped as he listened to Dolph's answer and Liz's further explanation. He was suddenly full of rage. He stormed off to his own locker room to calm down. The information he had just heard was enough to set him off more than anything else.

He paced back and forth for the entire show until a stage hand knocked on the door to tell him that it was almost time for him to go out to the ring for his part of the royal rumble match.

Randy suddenly saw red. He stormed out the door and practically ran to the curtain. Another stagehand saw him coming and stopped him. "Alight. You've got a little while until it's your turn," the stagehand said.

"What number are we on?" Randy asked.

"Cena just went out. Then it's Roman Reigns, Wade Barrett, Batista, then you," the stagehand said.

Randy nodded and waited impatiently for his turn. Soon enough, the clock counted down to number 30 and Randy ran down the ramp.

Liz watched on the monitors backstage as Randy practically jumped into the ring and pushed aside everybody who wasn't Wade Barrett. He pounced on Barrett as soon as the Brit was in his sights. Randy was able to get Wade on the ground before he sat on his chest and bashed Wade's face in with his fists.

"How does it feel, huh? You like that don't you, you son of bitch! I DIDN'T THINK SO!" Randy continued to yell at Wade as he threw punch after punch.

The rest of the guys in the match continued with the script, but they kept an eye each on Wade and Randy. When the real life fight got too real, John stepped in and pulled Randy off of Wade. John threw a punch, but Randy didn't sell it. Instead, he turned his attention back to Wade who had moved.

Batista was trying to throw Wade over the top rope; Randy stopped him from being eliminated. He pulled Wade back into the ring and eliminated Batista. Only Punk, The Shield, Christian, Mason Ryan, John, Randy, and Wade were remaining.

Punk, being his usual carefree person, wasn't too concerned with Randy's attack on Wade. He was too busy focusing on eliminating Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. With Roman Reigns being the only member of The Shield left, Punk was determined to eliminate him, next to make all three of The Shield eliminated by The Best in the World.

Before Punk could even think about how he would eliminate Roman, Mason had thrown him over the top rope. Christian and Mason Ryan ended up being eliminated at the same time. Mason had attempted to clothesline Christian over the rope, but Christian grabbed him and pulled the Welsh man down with him.

Roman, John, Randy, and Wade were left. Roman hadn't realized that the fight between Randy and Wade was real so he eliminated the only mediator in John Cena.

The three men left were Roman, Randy and Wade. Roman sat in the corner as he tried to catch his breath and rest while Randy coiled up and waited for Wade to stand up from the canvas where he battered and bruised.

Randy pounded his fists into the mat and jumped up for an RKO. Randy put as much of his energy into the finishing move. Wade bounced off the mat and just laid there while Roman ran full speed in an attempt to spear Randy. Unfortunately for Roman, Randy caught Roman in a very powerful powerslam. The powerslam was enough for Randy to toss Roman over the top rope.

Only Wade and Randy remained. Randy stalked around Wade and waited for the raven haired man to get up. The only problem was that Wade wasn't getting up at all. One of the several referees who stood outside the ring noticed this and went to check on Wade; he wasn't responsive. The referee checked for consciousness; when he didn't find any, he threw up the dreaded X arm motion.

Liz watched on to see how Wade had been injured. It was only an RKO and she couldn't see how Wade could be injured by it.

Almost immediately, the medics ran down to the ring with a stretcher, back board, and neck brace. Randy looked on, still seething. The medics told him to leave the ring, but he just stood there. Since Randy wasn't in the way, the medics continued their work. When a medic tried to get the neck brace around Wade's neck, his eyes widened.

The medic whispered to the other medics on hand. Instantly after the short conversation, the head medic spoke into his walkie-talkie that was attacked to his shirt. Right after, the cameras redirected to the audience. All the cameras scanned the audience signs and fans. Not a single camera was focusing on the ring. Some angles showed the looks of concern for Wade that were plastered on the fans' faces. Other angles showed fans cheering for Randy.

The commentators were speaking in very quiet tones; they knew the injury was serious.

Liz continued her staring at the monitor and waited to see what was going on, but a stagehand happened to rush past her.

"Hey!" she called out as she followed the bustling man. "What's going on?" she asked.

The stagehand stumbled to answer but eventually spoke actual words. "I uh, I don't think I can tell you. Talk to Hunter or Stephanie. Sorry," he said before running off again.

Liz frowned and went in search of Stephanie. On her way to the office, she saw the medics roll Wade backstage on the stretcher. He wasn't wearing a neck brace or any other protective gear and that raised Liz's suspicions; despite all that, Liz kept going towards Stephanie and Hunter's office. When she got there, Randy was there, too.

"What happened out there?" Liz asked Stephanie.

Stephanie took a deep breath, Randy hung his head, and Hunter rubbed his hands across his short hair.

Randy sighed. "I heard what he did to you, Liz. I got mad and I let my emotions get the best of me. I didn't mean for this to happen. I really didn't," he said somberly.

Liz was confused. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

Stephanie stepped in. "Apparently, Randy put way too much force behind the RKO. Wade, uh, he's hurt pretty bad," she said in an effort to sugar coat the situation.

"Randy broke his neck. He's dead," Hunter said bluntly.

Liz gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh my god," she said through her hands. Her eyes had started to collect tears until she realized what Randy said.

"Wait, you said you know what he did. What were you talking about?" she asked.

Randy sighed and looked down. He had hoped to have the discussion alone with Liz. "Can we talk about that in private?" he asked.

Before Liz could answer, Hunter interrupted. "No. No more privacy, Orton. This is the second person whose death you are responsible for! If you need to talk to Liz, you talk to here now in front of us," he said.

Randy shook his head but he explained himself to Liz anyway. "I was sort of eaves dropping on you and Dolph earlier tonight. I heard you tell him that Wade tried to poison you after you told him you were pregnant," he said.

Liz narrowed her eyes at him. "You were spying on me?!" she asked angrily.

"What did you expect me to do, Liz? You don't talk to me anymore. You won't even tell me if you're okay! I had to find out somehow! And honestly, I'm glad I found out because you probably wouldn't have told me later on when we were supposed to hang out," he said.

Liz scoffed. "Of course I wouldn't have told you! It's none of your business, Randy!" she yelled.

"Oh so it's Dolph's business?" he asked.

She shook her head and wiped away tears; she was at a loss for words, so Stephanie stepped in.

"Both of you need to go back to the hotel and get some rest. We have already contacted the authorities to see how this situation is going to be handled. You both should lay low until further notice. Liz, you should just take as much time as you need, but we would prefer you wouldn't come back to work until you've given birth. Maybe even a few months after that. Take some time for yourself and your baby," she said.

Liz nodded. She had been thinking about asking for the time off, anyway.

"And me?" Randy asked.

Hunter sighed. "You're fine. You're work hasn't changed. As far as the law is concerned, what happened is a work hazard. It's almost the job description. It's unfortunate, but there's nothing we can do about it right now. He didn't have any family, so…" he trailed off.

Randy nodded. As Liz was leaving, Randy stood and followed her.

"Can we just talk for a minute, Liz?" he asked.

She turned on her heels and slapped him. She didn't say anything, she just walked away. Randy jogged and stood in front of her.

"I don't get why you're so mad at me! He abused you for months! I thought you'd be happy that he's dead!" he said.

She shook her head. "You killed a man, Randy. Two of them, actually. How am I supposed to be happy about that?" she asked angrily.

Randy didn't have an answer.

Liz sniffled. "I really hate this between us, Randy. I try so hard to hate you for all that you've done, but it's like you're a drug and I'm an addict. I wean myself off of you for a while, then you show up and I fucking overdose! I get in too deep with you and shit like this happens. You just killed my baby's father but all I want to do is spend the night with you. I love how I feel when I'm with you but I hate the chills and shivers of too much of you. I hate you but I fucking love you. You are the very definition of a beautiful disaster! Why can't you just say out of my life, Randy?!" ranted.

Randy let her words sink in before responding. However, he didn't respond with words. Instead, he inched towards her and hugged her tightly. It took her a while, but Liz eventually hugged him back.

"If I've done anything to hurt you, Elizabeth, I sincerely apologize. But I won't apologize for what happened to Wade; I didn't mean for that to happen. Regardless, he had it coming and you can't fight karma," he said.

Liz sniffled as she hugged Randy. "Can we reschedule tonight? I really just want to sleep," she said.

Randy nodded and kissed the crown of her head. "We'll talk later. Just call or text me when you get back to your room," he said.

Liz nodded and went back to Dolph's locker room.

"How's Wade?" Dolph asked as soon as Liz walked in.

She sighed and told Dolph everything.

**A/N: Please review.**


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